Your LOCAL Media since 1918! Volume 105 Issue 36
Salute to Tofield Graduates INSIDE!
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Wednesday, May 10, 2023 s
Counties reach out to assist in battling wildfires Jana Semeniuk John Mather Staff Reporters
Beaver County Emergency Services took the unusual step of reaching out to Strathcona County last week to offer their support while two grass fires were raging out of control prompting evacuation orders near Fort Saskatchewan. “We reached out to Strathcona County about when that second evacuation came out, around 8 p.m. on Friday (May 5),” said Beaver County Fire Chief Kevin Moos. “We offered to bring one engine, one brush unit, and our tanker.” Moos said a crew of eight from station one went to Highway 21 and Highway 14, where they got instructions from Strathcona. “We were on the backside; the leading edge of the fire had crossed highway 21 and was burning West,” said Moos. “We were tasked with doing some mop up around some residential areas and subdivisions to try and put out whatever fire was remaining so that it didn’t spread any further than it had. There were very high winds and it was a very patchy burn, so the fire must have come through really fast.” Moos said fire crews were also battling another large fire that was raging north of Highway 16. “They were stretched very thin,” he said, adding the Beaver County fire crew got back to Tofield at 2 a.m. May 6. Moos said emergency services are typically dispatched to emergencies, but in this situation, he wanted to reach out beforehand. “We knew that they had two major fires going and they were evacuating residents and subdivisions, so we thought at the very least we could assist with evacuation. But they put us on fire attack because they had that handled,” he said. “I think the police and bylaw people were doing a lot of the evacuations. It was a pretty chaotic scene there in Strathcona.” Lamont County also reached out to help their neighbours in Strathcona County battle the raging wildfires, but information is sparse. The County fire divisions are no longer allowed to speak to media directly, rather all answers must be directed through the County Communications Officer, Jay Zaal. Although Zaal provided few details, he did say
As of Tuesday morning, the Government of Alberta was reporting 88 active wildfires across the province. Weekend rain helped to get several under control, however with a “heat dome” in the weather forecast for later this week, more hot and dry weather could prove problematic for firefighters.
the County responded to a request for support from Strathcona Emergency Services. “Four Lamont County Emergency Services (LCES) apparatus (responded) along with staff to assist. That fire is now under control (LCES is no longer supporting this event,)” he said by email. “Fire activity within Lamont County was subdued over the weekend with no new wildland/grassfire incidents. Lamont County’s
Duty Crew (staffed apparatus) continues between 10:30 and 18:30 for expedited response. “A reminder the fire ban remains in effect (now province-wide). Conditions continue to be monitored daily and updated as required.” Meanwhile, according to reports a province wide state of emergency was declared on May 6 as fires drove the number of evacuees up to 29,000.