More hot dry weather in northern Alberta will likely lead to increased wildfire activity in the Forest Protection Area this week. Albertans must follow all fire bans and restrictions to avoid new fire starts.

Jul 16, 2024

Alberta Emergency Alerts

As of July 15, at 2 p.m., there are no new emergency alerts.
Little Red River Cree Nation’s State of Local Emergency, declared via Band Council Resolution on July 10, remains in effect.
The response continues to be led by Little Red River Cree Nation with Alberta Emergency Management Agency First Nations field officers providing support.
Albertans are encouraged to download the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app, which immediately pushes all alerts out to subscribers.

Current situation

Little Red River Cree Nation remains under a state of local emergency, declared via Band Council Resolution.
An evacuation order remains in effect for the Garden River community.
Semo Complex Fire (HWF061) is classified as out of control and was reassessed at more than 43,000 hectares in size. It is still about 9 km from Highway 58 and 30 km northwest of Garden River.
More than 240 firefighters, eight helicopters, and 18 pieces of heavy equipment are actively responding to the Semo Complex wildfire.
Personnel and aircraft have been imported from other provinces and Alaska using our mutual aid agreements to support incident management and fire suppression efforts on the Semo and Amber River complexes.
Since January 1, there have been 788 wildfires recorded in the Forest Protection Area that have burned more than 269,000 hectares.
Of these wildfires, 27 are classified as out of control, 28 are being held, 36 are under control and 694 have been extinguished.
Even though parts of the province saw rain and lower temperatures over the weekend, more than 50 new wildfires were reported between Friday and Sunday night.
While lightning is a major cause of wildfires at this time of year, extra caution is urged to prevent any additional fire starts that will add to the already extreme wildfire situation.
As of July 15, there are four wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area. Information on these wildfires can be found by visiting the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard.

Fire bans

A fire ban is in place for the entire Forest Protection Area of Alberta.
Cities, towns, villages and summer villages, as well as federal lands, such as national parks, are exempt from this ban.
These jurisdictions have the authority to issue their own bans and may have complementary bans in place.
Albertans should visit the website or social media for their local municipality to confirm if a fire ban is in effect in their area.

For information on activities prohibited under this ban, visit alberta.ca/fire-bans.

Support for evacuees

Albertans in need of emergency financial assistance as they can contact the Income Support Emergency Contact Centre at 1-866-644-5135 or visit Emergency financial assistance.

Emergency Evacuation Payments:

Support continues to be available to Albertans 24-7. Visit alberta.ca/emergency or call 310-4455.
Individuals who are part of a mandatory evacuation order for a minimum of seven days may be eligible to receive a one-time payment of $1,250 for each adult and an additional $500 for each child under the age of 18.
Eligibility for emergency evacuation payments for Garden River residents will commence on Tuesday, July 16, if the evacuation order remains in place.
Applications for emergency evacuation payments will be accepted and payments will commence on Wednesday, July 17.
People who left their community but who were not part of a mandatory evacuation order, are not eligible for payment. More information on how to apply will be available soon on alberta.ca/emergency.

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