The Dunes West Wildfire is now classified as under control. According to the Tuesday morning update from the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership, this means the fire is contained within the established perimeter.
Overnight Monday, crews responded to four hotspots within the fire’s perimeter and put out three while the fourth burnt itself out. In a video released Tuesday County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Chief Trevor Grant say the weather system that moved through the area overnight Monday tested the fire lines and perimeter guards which have been set up.
“So having the fire under control, we’re looking into transitioning some residents back into their homes today, so watch for some announcements about that,” Grant says. “For those folks returning home, we do still have active fire crews working in the area, with helicopters doing hotspot work and ensuring that we have the fire contained within the perimeter.”
“There are risks [in] returning home, there are some trees that may have been affected by the fire or some of our fire fighting operations they need to be aware of. As well as ash pits where the fire has burnt down under the soil into some root systems or some peat, and those are some things you need to look out for if you are going to be moving around your home if it is in an area that has burned over.”
All evacuation alerts and orders remain the same as they did on May 14th; according to officials, crews are continuing to work on making sure it is safe for residents to return to their homes in certain areas, with the fire still active along Spring Creek.
Grant says crews from across the province including the City of Calgary, along with the Canadian Military and the County of Grande Prairie on sight.
“Some of those crews will be demobilizing over the next few days and returning home because there are a lot of other events taking place around the province and we need to help support that as well, but those are the crews that we still have.”
An announcement regarding re-entry plans for select areas is expected to be released later Tuesday.