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Telephone townhall to provide information for residents impacted by Waterton fire

Sep 13, 2017 | 5:17 PM

PINCHER CREEK – A telephone townhall will be held this evening (Wednesday) to keep affected residents informed as local states of emergency continue in response to southern Alberta wildfire conditions

This situation update is current as of 2:30 p.m. For up-to-date information, visit emergency.alberta.ca.

A telephone townhall will occur at 7 p.m. tonight for all affected residents. Participants will receive important information on the wildfire. Residents can participate by calling 1-877-229-8493 and using access code 115500.

Current situation

  • The mandatory evacuation order has been lifted for the Blood Tribe. Residents are asked to follow instructions from the Blood Tribe Administration.
  • A mandatory evacuation order and states of local emergency remain in effect for the M.D. of Pincher Creek and Cardston County. Detailed information on affected areas can be found at emergency.alberta.ca.
  • Approximately 500 people are under a mandatory evacuation order from their homes in Waterton townsite, parts of Cardston County, parts of the M.D. of Pincher Creek and parts of the Blood Reserve.
  • Some residents in the Twin Butte area are being granted two-hour visits to assess their property and feed livestock. More information on getting access to properties is available on the M.D. Pincher Creek website.
  • Access to all other mandatory evacuation zones is not permitted at this time. 

Wildfire activity updates

  • The Kenow wildfire has spread outside Waterton Lakes National Park into Cardston County and the M.D. of Pincher Creek.  
  • The Kenow wildfire currently covers approximately 44,000 hectares.
  • Fire behaviour is not expected to be as extreme today due to lower temperatures and higher relative humidity. Conditions for firefighting have improved.
  • Firefighters working within Waterton were relieved Tuesday, Sept. 12 by a second team coming in and will continue their work with 11 fire trucks on site.
  • Within the park itself, there are roughly 137 firefighters, three Alberta air tankers, 8 helicopters and 15 pieces of heavy equipment.