Town of Rainbow Lake Wildfire Update – Sat, May 27th

rainbow-lake-jpg-20

Courtesy of the Town of Rainbow Lake:

May 27 2023 – The fire remained inactive around the Town perimeter yesterday and there were no threats to the Town. The fire was very active in other areas, due in a large part to the stronger winds and the high temperatures. The West and South ends of the fire were particularly active and the fire is burning to the Northeast of the Cenovus plant once again, moving away from the plant. Our Fire crew were busy late into the evening last night controlling grass fires around the Cenovus plant and the Trout Pond.
Due to this increased fire activity, the Cenovus inspection team and Atco had to evacuate the plant area today and will not be able to get back in until new assessments are completed to make sure the area is secure enough to operate in. Atco will continue working along the highway where it is still safe. Today is going to be another hot and windy day, so we won’t be able to really update our assessments and timelines until such a time as the fire activity around the plant has subsided. There has been no damage to the plant and crews are out this morning preparing new assessments and tactics while the fire is in its morning calm period.
While the fire was very active, the growth of the fire was limited. The primary fuels being burned were within the existing fire area, reburning areas where the fire had passed and left fuels behind. This same process occurred around the Town in the earlier days of the Long Lake Fire and have left us in a stronger position for it.
We will continue to keep you up to date with re-entry timelines and how this increased activity may impact those dates as our assessment continues. We do have some cooler temperatures forecasted in the coming days which should allow us to continue the work to get everyone home.