Photo credit County of Grande Prairie Professional Firefighters Facebook

By Erika Rolling

Wildfires

Over 200 homes assessed for damage in Dunes West wildfire, part of evacuation order adjusted

May 11, 2023 | 7:25 AM

Evacuation order replaced by alert in select area

On Wednesday, part of the evacuation order was lifted in the County of Grande Prairie for properties between Township Road 712 and Township Road 710 and between Range Road 65 and Range Road 74.

Several homes were saved overnight as crews responding to fight the blaze continued offensive tactics through the night, which included a helicopter and a ground crew response.

People living inside that area are allowed to return home as the identified area is now in an evacuation alert.

Those able to return to their homes need to be prepared to leave within 30 minutes if fire conditions change.

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Wildfire information

Crews continue to tend to hotspots, preventing the further spread of the fire.

The size estimation of the fire has been updated to 1,581 hectares and is burning out-of-control.

On Thursday, crews focus is on reinforcing the fire guard lines to strengthen the perimeter and establish a protection zone for homes in the area.

Overnight, drones identified hot spots that were quickly extinguished by ground crews, and drones remain in the air today monitoring for flare-ups.

Firefighter attending to hotspot area within Dunes West wildfire perimeter on May 10, photo credit GPREP

80 wildland firefighting trained soldiers arrived in Grande Prairie on Wednesday following an assessment from the Canadian Military. The soldiers will be attending to the Dunes West wildfire situation.

Damages updated

The Grande Prairie Regional Partnership says 74 homes have received structure protection in the form of laying and activating sprinkler systems to prevent further losses of homes and other buildings.

GPREP’s Damage Assessment Team is reporting 207 homes being apart of the damage assessment plan.

ATCO Gas and Electric and Aquatera were also brought into the impacted zone to begin the required repairs to the grid system and a total of 200 homes have been re-energized.

A formal assessment has not been done and will take time to conduct.

Farmers take action

Farmers and landowners have been answering the County’s and GPREP’s call to disc or seed their land sent out on Tuesday.

At this time, the County reported an estimated 2,500 acres of field and farmland in the evacuated area, that is being disced and seeded.

By doing so, it is creating a fire break to slow the spread of the wildfire.

For agricultural producers needing access to be able to farm, please contact the County of Grande Prairie’s Agricultural Fieldman, Sonja Raven, at 780-876-6936 for a contractor permit.

Evacuee information

As of Wednesday, 337 temporary access permits had been approved for evacuees to access the evacuation zone.

Personnel are on the scene of the evacuated area, supporting temporary re-entry for people in the evacuation area, and patrols are being conducted within the barricaded area.

To re-enter, evacuees must bring proof of a re-entry permit, to apply for a permit, click here.

There are now over 1,059 evacuees registered at Bonnetts Energy Centre.

Emergency funding from the province is available for those displaced for seven days or more. Eligible evacuees will receive $1,250 per adult and an additional $500 per dependent child under 18 years. Evacuees can apply for the payment at alberta.ca/emergency using an Alberta.ca Account.

The Dunes West Wildfire Information Line is available at 1-825-606-5092. The Call Centre is operating from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Reception Centre is operating 24/7.