By Sheldon Spackman

Emergency Readiness

City says High Level wildfire serves as reminder to always be prepared

May 21, 2019 | 10:47 AM

As a large wildfire burning in northern Alberta has forced the evacuation of the Town of High Level, the City of Red Deer says it’s not yet planning to send in help.

Karen Mann, Emergency Management Coordinator with the City of Red Deer says the province has yet to request any supports from municipalities in central Alberta.

“We remain in contact with the province and if a request were to come through, we would consider that request,” says Mann. “But at this time, we haven’t been requested to support anything in relation to fire evacuations with High Level.”

Over 500 firefighters are on their way from three provinces to help battle the blaze.

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Reception centres have been set up in La Crête, High Prairie and Slave Lake. The approximately 4,000 affected residents have been told they could be out of their homes for 72 hours.

Mann says the High Level wildfire serves as another reminder to always be prepared for emergencies.

“We always remind our residents in the City of Red Deer to be prepared for emergencies by knowing the risks in our community, having 72-hour emergency kits on-hand and having family emergency plans,” she explains. “They should include non-perishable food items, two litres of water per person, per day. As well as things like important documents, insurance documents, materials for your pets and copies of your prescriptions.”

When the evacuation order was issued late Monday afternoon, the flames were only about three kilometres from High Level, though the wind has been pushing the smoke away from the town.

Emergency officials say the wind direction is currently in their favour, but Premier Jason Kenney says the long-term fire outlook for the province’s north is not promising.

“On the fire intensity scale of 1-6, the High Level fire is currently assessed to be a six. Meaning the fire is jumping from crown to crown of trees,” Kenney said Tuesday.

There are 30 active fires burning in Alberta as of Tuesday — six of which are out of control.