Courtesy of Big Lakes County:
WILDFIRE UPDATE
SWF-057 Wildfire (Grizzly Ridge Wildfire), SWF-063 Wildfire (East Prairie, Gilwood, and Banana Belt) and SWF-64 (Blue Lake) are still classified as out of control. The wildfires did not experience any significant growth and fire intensity was reduced due to some isolated showers that passed over SWF-057 and SWF-063 yesterday afternoon. A 20-person Incident Management Team and 40 firefighters arrived from Ontario and are being deployed on the wildfires today. The evacuation ALERTS for both the Town of High Prairie (4-hour notice) and Big Lakes County (1-hour notice) remain in place.
SWF-057 (Grizzly Ridge) – is located approx. 26 km south of Kinuso, is classified as out of control and has burned an estimated 8,337 hectares. Firefighters and helicopter bucket support focused on putting up a guard on the southwest portion of the fire (90% complete in this area), and will finish today. Heavy equipment continues to build fire guard along the west to south side of the wildfire and firefighters continue to secure the guard by extinguishing the wildfire’s perimeter while helicopters are bucketing on flare ups. This guard is approximately 90% complete in this area and expected to be completed today. Firefighters have placed over 3000 feet of hose along this section. There has been approx. 2km of fire-retardant line placed along the ridge on the Southeast side (by Hwy 33). There are ten firefighters and two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire. There are 13 helicopters assigned to the Grizzly complex as well.
SWF-063 (East Prairie, Gilwood, and Banana Belt) – is located approximately seven kilometers south of High Prairie is classified as burning out of control and has burned an estimated 69,074 hectares. Firefighters and helicopters worked in the northeast portion of the wildfire to extinguish a slash pile fire in the Banana Belt area. Firefighters with nodwells and helicopters are working on flare ups and hot spots around the community of East Prairie Metis Settlement. Heavy equipment continues to build fire guard around the east side of the wildfire and helicopters continue to hit hotspots with buckets. There are 30 firefighters and four heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire. There are 13 helicopters assigned to the Grizzly complex as well.
SWF-064 (Blue Lake) – is located approx. 40 km southeast of the Town of High Prairie, is classified as out of control and has burned approximately 22,398 hectares. A heavy equipment group continues to build fire guard around the northwest portion of the wildfire.
ALBERTA EMERGENCY ALERTS
Over the weekend, you will continue to receive notifications from Alberta Emergency Alert. Since these alerts expire every 24 hours, we will need to keep sending them out so residents are informed of the status of the wildfires. Please continue to read these alerts, as they may change throughout the weekend.
ATCO ELECTRIC
ATCO Electric is busy restoring power in East Prairie, Gilwood, and the Banana Belt areas. There are crews from ATCO Fort Mac who are currently working on restoring power along HWY 749 in the Banana Belt area.
RECEPTION CENTRE
Since there is not a mandatory evacuation order for Big Lakes County, the Reception Centre at the High Prairie Elks Rodeo Hall will be closing down and not taking any more registrations, effective May 12, 2023, at 8PM. East Prairie Metis Settlement residents who are still under mandatory evacuation who have not registered, please visit https://emergencyregistration.alberta.ca. A HUGE thank you to the Big Lakes FCSS staff for their hard work and dedication in running the Reception Centre at the Elks Rodeo Hall.
FIRE BAN AND OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE RESTRICTION IN EFFECT
A fire ban and Off-Highway Vehicle restriction is in effect within the Forest Protection Area due to extreme fire danger. The fire ban and ohv restriction will remain in effect until conditions improve. More details, https://bit.ly/41MkPSF
