Update 8: Northwest Alberta wildfire (May 29 at 6 p.m.)

Todayville Edmonton

Published

6 years ago

13 minute read

May 29, 2019

Wildfire battles continues as re-entry planning moves forward. To date, the province has provided more than $6 million in one-time, emergency support payments to evacuees.

Current situation

Chuckegg Creek Wildfire is burning approximately three kilometres southwest of the Town of High Level in Mackenzie County.
This out-of-control wildfire has grown to more than 150,000 hectares.
Resources on the ground include about 390 wildland firefighters and staff, 28 helicopters and heavy equipment.
Cabinet approved two orders in council to release funds to cover emergency response including structural firefighting efforts, evacuation costs, reception centre costs, and recovery costs as well as fire prevention, suppression, reclamation and reforestation costs.
Parts of northern Alberta remain under a special air quality advisory.
New mandatory evacuations have been issued for:
- La Crete Ferry Campground
- Steen River
- Hawk Hills
- Keg River
- Carcajou
- Residents living between Township Road 922 and north to Northern Lights County.
Residents should check Alberta Emergency Alerts for details.
Officials are preparing for residents to re-enter High Level once public safety has been confirmed.
Visit emergency.alberta.ca for detailed and frequently updated information.

Financial supports

You may qualify for the evacuation payment if you were:
- living, working or vacationing in the affected area
- forced to leave due to an evacuation order
- paid for most of your costs to evacuate
Albertans who qualify will receive $1,250 for each adult and $500 for each dependent child.
Applications are open:
- Apply online through the MyAlberta Evacuation Payment application using a smart phone, device or desktop. Interac e-transfers may take 24 hours to process.
- Apply in–person at any Alberta Supports Centre in Alberta.
- Evacuees in La Crete and Fort Vermillion can apply in person at La Crete Heritage Centre (25411 Township Road 1060, south of La Crete) or Fort Vermilion Community Cultural Complex (5001 44 Avenue)
- If you require assistance registering, call 310-4455
- If you’re having technical issues, contact My Alberta Digital ID at 1-844-643-2789 (Monday to Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)

Reception and call centres

Reception centres are open at:
- Slave Lake Legacy Centre (400 6 Avenue NE)
- High Prairie Gordon Buchanan Centre (5413 49 Street)
- Grande Prairie Regional College (10726 106 Avenue)
- Peace River Misery Mountain Ski Hill (10408 89 Street)
- La Crete Heritage Centre (25411 Township Road 1060, south of La Crete)
- Fort Vermilion Community Cultural Complex (5001 44 Avenue)
- Dene Wellness Centre (In K’atl’ Odeeche First Nation, 17 kilometres east of Hay River)
Hours of operation for evacuation reception centres can be found at emergency.alberta.ca.
310-4455 call centre hours are extended until Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Highway closures

Highway 35 is open between High Level and the Zama City turnoff. Travel is not permitted north of the Zama City turnoff.
Highway 35 is closed between approximately five km south of High Level and five km north of Highway 695 (Keg River turnoff). Access to Keg River remains open.
Highway 697 is closed between Highway 35 and Range Road 185, east of the La Crete Ferry.
The La Crete Ferry is closed.
Northbound travelers from the Peace River area should detour using Highway 986 to Highway 88.
Highway 58 remains closed between High Level and approximately 90 km west, at the junction of Range Road 45A (south of Chateh).
To stay informed on all road closure info visit 511.Alberta.ca or download the mobile app.

Insurance information

Evacuated residents should retain all their receipts for food purchases, accommodation and other related expenses to provide to their insurer for possible reimbursement.
Most home and tenant’s insurance policies provide reasonable coverage for living expenses during an evacuation. Contact your insurance company for details.
Albertans who cannot remember or reach their insurance provider, can contact the Insurance Bureau of Canada at 1-844-227-5422 or by email at [email protected]. Information to understand your fire insurance coverage is online at ibc.ca/ab/disaster/alberta-wildfire.

Justice and legal matters

Sittings scheduled for Wabasca Desmarais Court on Thursday, May 30 will be heard in High Prairie Court.
High Level Court is closed. Call the Peace River Court at 780-624-6256 for inquiries on High Level Court matters scheduled for this week and next. All scheduled Fort Vermilion matters will be heard in Peace River. Call the Peace River Court at 780-624-6256 if you’re unable to register your name and phone number. Matters will be held by phone if necessary.
In many cases, tickets can be paid online. For any other inquiries requiring direction from the court about Peace River and Fort Vermilion court matters, call the Peace River Court at 780-624-6256.
If you have an appointment with a probation officer in an evacuated area, report to the community corrections office nearest you. If you do not know where the nearest one is, call 780-427-3109 (to call toll free, first dial 310-0000).
If you are an intermittent server in an evacuated area, call the Peace River Correctional Centre at 780-624-5480 (to call toll-free, first dial 310-0000) for direction.

Education

Grade 12 students in the High Level area are eligible for an exemption from their diploma exam. When a student is exempt from the diploma exam, their classroom mark will be their final mark.
These students could also write the exam if they choose to do so and can safely make it to a school, either in their community or another. Students can also defer writing the diploma exams to August.
For grades 6 and 9 provincial achievement tests, students can be excused from writing. Alternately, these students could write the tests if they can safely make it to a school, either in their community or another.
Once students and their families have made a decision, they should contact their school division.

Air quality

Much of northern Alberta is under a special air quality statement.
Smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta is causing poor air quality and reducing visibility.
Alberta Wildfire recommends checking FireSmoke.ca to find out where the smoke is coming from.

Boil water advisory

Boil water advisories remain in place for Meander River (Dene Tha’ First Nation) and North Tall Cree (Little Red River Cree Nation). Although power has been restored, the boil water advisories will remain in place until water testing is complete.

Health

Mental health support is available by calling Alberta’s 24-hour Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642.
Alberta Health Services is providing supports to the receptions centres. These supports include addiction and mental health, indigenous health liaisons, nursing, emergency medical services, public health, home care and more.

Pets and livestock

Animal Control are collecting household pets that have been left behind. Pets will be moved to a safe and secure location outside of the Town of High Level. Contact 780-926-2201.
Mackenzie County has stock trailers to assist with livestock transport. Visit highlevel.ca for more information.

Donations and volunteers

The towns of High Level and Slave Lake are not accepting material donations and do not require volunteers at this time.
The Town of Slave Lake has set up an online form for offers slavelake.ca/FormCenter/Other-27/High-Level-Evacuation-Volunteer-Sign-Up-159.
Check the Mackenzie County Facebook page for an up-to-date list of donations needed and drop-off locations.

Canada Post

Canada Post has suspended mail delivery services in the communities of High Level, Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement, Meander River, Chateh and Keg River.
Mail will be held at the Edmonton depot until mail service resumes.
Check the Canada Post website for updates.

Income Support, Alberta Supports and AISH

Residents receiving benefits from the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) or the Income Support program by cheque rather than electronic deposit, and who are affected by the wildfire in High Level, can visit their nearest Alberta Supports Centre to pick up their cheque.
If you are in La Crete, you can pick up your cheque at the local reception centre. If you receive your benefits via direct deposit, your payment will be deposited as usual.
For information on child intervention and child care, residents may contact 1-800-638-0715.
If persons with developmental disabilities, their families or contracted service providers need human, financial, or in-kind assistance to connect with loved ones, find accommodations or provide assistance to individuals receiving PDD supports, please contact the nearest Alberta Supports Centre for assistance at 1-800-232-7215 province-wide between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday to Friday.
For additional information on social benefits, affected individuals can contact Alberta Supports or call 1-877-644-9992, Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Employment insurance: evacuees can visit Service Canada online to apply at canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei.html. Use code 4812014812201900.

Health card, driver’s licences, ID cards, birth certificate

To get a replacement Health Care Insurance Card at no cost, you can contact 780-427-1432 or toll free at 310-0000 and then 780-427-1432 when prompted. Your Alberta Personal Health Card can be mailed to a temporary address.
If driver’s licences, ID cards, and/or birth certificates were left behind during the evacuation, replacement cards and certificates can be ordered free of charge at a registry agent. A list of registry locations can be found at alberta.ca/registry-agents

Public information

You can call 310-4455 for more information.

Aerial footage of the northwest wildfires

B-roll of the Chuckegg Creek fire in northwest Alberta, taken Sunday, May 26, can be downloaded here.

Related information

Backgrounder: Previous updates

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Alberta

‘Significant change’ in oil sands emissions growth while sector nears $1 trillion in spending

Published on December 13, 2024

Todayville

In situ oil sands project in northern Alberta. Photo courtesy MEG Energy

From the Canadian Energy Centre

By Deborah Jaremko

‘The oil sands are Canada’s winning lottery ticket’

As Alberta’s oil sands sector reaches a major economic milestone, a new report shows that emissions growth continues to slow.

There is a clear “structural break” for the industry where production growth is beginning to rise faster than emissions growth, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights. While last year’s oil sands production was nine per cent higher than in 2019, total emissions rose by just three per cent.

“It’s not driven solely by slower production growth because production growth has continued. This is a notable, significant change in oil sands emissions,” said Kevin Birn, head of S&P Global’s Centre for Emissions Excellence.

Birn said that in many cases oil sands growth is coming from optimization, where for example instead of companies building new equipment to generate more steam to inject underground, they have found ways to produce more oil with the steam they already have.

Emissions per barrel, or so-called “emissions intensity” is now 28 per cent lower than it was in 2009.

Earlier this year, S&P Global raised its oil sands production outlook, now projecting the sector will reach 3.8 million barrels per day by 2030, compared to 3.2 million barrels per day in 2023.

Analysts continue to expect total oil sands emissions to peak in the next couple of years, absent the federal government’s proposed oil and gas emissions cap.

“Certainly, there’s potential for that to occur later if there’s more volume than we anticipate, but it’s also the time when we start to see the potential for large-scale decarbonizations to emerge towards the end of this decade,” Birn said.

Meanwhile, before the end of this year the oil sands sector will hit approximately $1 trillion of cumulative spending over the last 25 years, according to a joint report by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and Pathways Alliance.

That is, not profits or dividends, but investment in operations, building new facilities, and government payments including taxes and royalties.

“The oilsands are Canada’s winning lottery ticket,” wrote MLI’s Heather Exner-Pirot and Pathways’ Bryan Remillard.

They noted that oil sands producers have paid more than $186 billion in royalties and taxes to Canadian governments, representing more than the last five years of Canadian defense spending.

“Far from just an Alberta success story, the oilsands are a quintessentially Canadian sector. More than 2,300 companies outside of Alberta have had direct business with the oilsands, including over 1,300 in Ontario and almost 600 in Quebec,” wrote Exner-Pirot and Remillard.

“That juggernaut could keep Canada’s economy prosperous for many more decades, providing the feedstock for chemicals and carbon-based materials whenever global fuel consumption starts to decline.”

That is, unless companies are forced to cut production, which credible analysis has found will happen with Ottawa’s emissions cap – well over one million barrels per day by 2030, which Exner-Pirot and Remillard said would have to come almost entirely from Canada’s exports to the United States.

“If companies are forced to cut their production, they won’t be able to afford to aggressively cut emissions. Nor will they be able to make other investments to maximize and sustain the value of this resource.”

Alberta

51 new officers, 10 surveillance drones, and patrol dogs to help Alberta to secure southern border with US

Published on December 12, 2024

Government of Alberta

A plan to secure Alberta’s southern border

Alberta’s government is taking immediate and decisive action to secure the Alberta-U.S. border from illegal drugs, migrants and firearms.

Alberta’s government is taking swift action that will curb illegal border activities and strengthen the nation’s border security. New measures will immediately crack down on illegal migrants and drug trafficking across the border.

“We cannot take concerns about border security lightly. By establishing this new team of sheriffs at our southern border, we are actively working to address security concerns and stop the criminals whose activities are destroying lives on both sides of the border.”

Danielle Smith, Premier

A new Interdiction Patrol Team (IPT) within the Alberta Sheriffs will crack down on drug smuggling, gun trafficking and other illegal activities occurring along Alberta’s 298-kilometre international boundary. IPT will be supported by:

51 uniformed officers equipped with carbine rifles (weapons for tactical operations);
10 support staff, including dispatchers and analysts;
four drug patrol dogs, critical to ensure reasonable suspicion to search vehicles;
10 cold weather surveillance drones that can operate in high winds with dedicated pilots; and
four narcotics analyzers to test for illicit drugs.

This team will patrol to detect and intercept illicit drugs, illegal firearms and unlawful attempts at illegal international border crossing.

Alberta’s government will also create a two kilometre-deep critical border zone, deemed critical infrastructure, to enable the sheriffs to arrest individuals found attempting to cross the border illegally or attempting to traffic illegal drugs or weapons, without needing a warrant. This critical border zone will be created by amending regulations under the Critical Infrastructure Defence Act. This will not apply to people travelling legally along Alberta highways and roads.

“Alberta’s government is ramping up border enforcement. We have long recognized the need for additional capacity to patrol Alberta’s vulnerable international borders, where any amount of illegal activity is too much. I look forward to working with our partners in law enforcement and across government as we send a clear message to prospective offenders that criminal activity, such as fentanyl trafficking, will not be tolerated at our borders or anywhere else in our province.”

Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services

“Stemming illegal cross-border activities at the source prevents their spread to the rest of the province later on, and the Alberta Sheriffs are proud to step up and take on this important role.”

Bob Andrews, chief, Alberta Sheriffs

“Regardless of what uniform we wear, or what agency we represent, law enforcement from across the province will aggressively target drug dealers, disrupt the fentanyl trade and keep our communities safe.”

Angela Kemp, inspector, Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT)