As Albertaos forced forest fires to return home, others evacuated are learning that their homes have been lost with the flames.
During what has proven to be a devastating forest fire season throughout the west of Canada, the remote community of Lake Chipewyan has been among the most affected in Alberta in terms of infrastructure damage.
About half of the buildings in the small community, located in the Northern Alberta forests, about 450 kilometers north of Edmonton, have been destroyed.
A forest fire swept the remote community last week, hours after it was evacuated.
Questions remain about how and when the community can rebuild, and where their 100 residents will live during the long recovery ahead.
Chipewyan Lake lost some of his most critical community buildings, local emergency management officials with Bigstone Cree Nation and the MD of Opportunity No. 17 said Tuesday.
The elevated steps of the community show 38 structures and nine destroyed sheds. 10 additional buildings have been damaged, while 38 structures appear intact.
Marcel Auger, Reeve of the Municipal District, said forest officials completed an air evaluation on June 1. Land surveys of damaged buildings began on Tuesday
“The information is not yet 100 percent required until we have an evaluation of boots on the completed terrain,” he said.
“We will have to complete community evaluations. We will also need to perform an important cleaning and rebuild the damaged infrastructure.”
Destroyed buildings include the Bigstone Health Center, a local church and the community’s water treatment plant, as well as houses and sheds.
An aerial map published on Wednesday shows that the flames violated the only entrance road in the community before shaking the heart of its streets, with views on the southwest edge of the lake. Red points, which represent complete losses, dot the map.
‘Committed to rebuilding’
A flame wall crossed the community on the night of May 29, temporarily catching eight firefighters during the night when their dispatch radios failed. The flames lit, consumed buildings and spill trees, blocking the only way.
Firefighters were forced to take refuge during the night in a local school and a fire hall before a rescue team could cut a path through fallen trees.
Andy Alook, Chief of Bigstone Cree Nation, which is composed of Lake Chipewyan, as well as the communities to call Lake and Wabasca, said that local government officials are working closely following the disaster.
“Our governments are committed to rebuilding the Chipewyan Lake community,” he told the ESP in Tuesday update to the evacuees.
“We are pressing federal and provincial governments to support efforts.”
The officials are working to obtain temporary housing solutions as soon as possible in Wabasca and are discussing permanent housing solutions at Lake Chipewyan, Alook told.
The Chipewyan Lake that threatens the fire has now consumed more than 132,170 hectares and continues without control.
It is part of a complex of four forest fires in the region that has caused evacuation orders in progress in nearby communities, including Red Earth Creek, Peerless Lake, Trout Lake and Loon River River Cplest Nation.
Until Thursday morning, a total of 52 forest fires were burning in Alberta: 21 are out of control and eight are a current threat to nearby communities or critical infrastructure.
While relatively colder temperatures this week have helped fire extinction efforts remain dry and the risk of forest fires remains extreme in the regions of the entire province.
Evacuation raises on Swan Hills
On Thursday afternoon, more than a week after the issuance of evacuation orders, the 1,300 Swan Hills residents received the news that it is sure to return home.
Evacuation orders have been reduced and now they have changed to an evacuation alert of four hours.
The city’s residents can return to the community from 11 a.m. on Thursday, but they must be prepared to go in the short term.
A forest fire, which covers more than 16,880 hectares, continues to burning about eight kilometers north of the city, about 220 kilometers northwest of Edmonton.
Around 4,000 Albertaos have been forced to evacuate their homes. Thousands have put themselves on evacuation alert and must be prepared to leave at any time.
The Kiskatinaw river forest fire, south of Dawson Creek, has now forced the evacuation of 110 civic directions near the bc-alberta border and closed Highway 52 east.
He has also caused an evacuation alert in the Large County meadow in Alberta.
