The Dunes West wildfire, which burned approximately 1,400 hectares, was caused by lightning, according to a report from the County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service.
Fire Chief Trevor Grant told County of Grande Prairie Council that the first call about smoke on the north side of the Wapiti River across from Nitehawk came in around 10:05 a.m. on May 5. Because of heavy smoke from other fires in the area, ground crews could not locate the smoke’s source, and officials flew over the area for the first time at 12 p.m. Between 12 and 4:18 p.m., the fire situation changed.
“Many crews worked for 24 hours for the first night,” Grant says. “Some structural protections were started but not completed because of the need for direct action crews.”
For the first two days, county crews and crews from Beaverlodge, Sexsmith, Wembley and the Grande Prairie Fire Department were battling the blaze with no available help from outside the region. According to Grant, the local industry was helping operations with heavy equipment and water trucks. On May 8, the area received two drops from Alberta Forestry Electra, and additional resources from outside the area started to arrive. Grant reported in the coming days, extra help continued to arrive, and from May 8 to 18, firefighters worked to contain the fire, protect structures in the area and action hot spots.
From May 19 to 22nd, county crews continued to monitor the fire with roving patrols while helicopters bucketed flair-ups and hot spots identified by drones.
“Tuesday, May 23, all crews returned to regular operations, and the remaining helicopters were released.”
Grant also told councillors in the days leading up to May 5, fire crews responded to 25 wildfires in the days leading up to the Dunes West Wildfire breaking out. Crews also responded to two structure fires, received a request for mutual aid from Debolt, and denied a provincial request to send recourses to Rainbow Lake because of the situation locally. On May 5, crews responded to 12 calls outside the Dunes West Wildfire between 12:56 p.m. and 10:50 p.m.
