Eastlink Centre’s aquatics area will be shut down for most of September due to the annual maintenance shutdown scheduled to begin September 3rd.

According to the city, the shutdown helps the facility’s longevity as preventative work, repairs, deep cleaning, and upgrades will take place during the closure.

During the shutdown, repairs on the 50-metre competition pool will take place, along with refurbishing the splash pad, re-grouting the shower rooms and family hot tub, replacing filtration components, refurbishing the sauna, installing new shower heads, and various other mechanical repairs.

Community Knowledge Campus Director Angela Redding calls the aquatics area an “important piece” in maintaining the quality of life for Grande Prairie residents, and annual maintenance is a critical part of ensuring the facility can accommodate the hundreds of thousands of users who visit the pool each year.

“With over 140,000 visitors annually, yearly maintenance and cleaning in the aquatics area is necessary for this facility to continue providing benefits to our community for many more years,” she says.

Eastlink Centre members are encouraged to use the rest of the facility including drop-in activities, PlayCare, and the fitness centre to get full use of their membership. The City of Grande Prairie has also partnered with the Beaverlodge Swimming Pool so Eastlink Members and GAP holders can access the facility during public swim.

On the heels of the evacuation of Jasper National Park and the municipality within it, fire officials are suggesting wildfire activity could pick up in the coming days.

Central Peace-Notley MLA and Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen calls the past few weeks of summer “tough” and suggests that more challenging days could come as wildfires continue to ravage northern Alberta.

“The past few weeks have been tough, while there is rain expected in parts of the province this week, the forecast calls for more hot, dry weather meaning we will likely have more hard days ahead of us,” he says.

According to the provincial government, around 170 active wildfires are burning throughout the province, with more than 50 being considered “out of control.” As a result, an estimated 17,500 Albertans have been evacuated across the province, with around 10,000 coming from Jasper.

Alberta Wildfire Information Unit Manager Christie Tucker says the province has provided supports in conjunction with those coming from Parks Canada in Jasper; however, winds moving in from British Columbia have led officials to anticipate more intense wildfire behaviour in the coming days.

“We’re preparing for challenging conditions as a cold front moves in from BC and the winds are going to shift,” she says. “This will change the intensity of several wildfires in Alberta, as well as the direction they are moving.”

She adds that wildfire response in Jasper is one of Alberta Wildfire’s “top priorities” due to its proximity to the municipality and infrastructure in the park.

Overnight, Alberta Wildfire provided firefighters on the ground and aircraft to take the fight to the skies, and Tucker says additional support systems are on standby.

“We’ve already provided support overnight from aircraft to staff to wildfire intelligence, today we have firefighters and aircraft on standby that are ready to help in Jasper if needed,” she says.

The Town of Jasper reports they were at maximum occupancy at the time of the evacuation order, with Parks Canada reporting an estimated 15K visitors to the park during the evacuation. Senior Assistant Deputy Minister for the Government of Alberta Stephen Lacroix says numbers will continue to be finalized as residents register as evacuees in the coming days.

Evacuation centres have been set up in Calgary and Grande Prairie, and Lacroix explains the reasoning for the two cities chosen simply comes down to a lack of availability in British Columbia as they continue dealing with wildfires and evacuations of their own.

“The issue is the severity of wildfire activity and evacuations in BC proper,” he says. “British Columbia has been very gracious in the facilitation of the movement of Albertans through their province and helping us with the collection point in Valemount, but they have no capacity to house Albertans.”

Grande Prairie’s reception centre at Bonnetts opened at 9:00 a.m. on July 23rd for evacuees.

The City of Grande Prairie through GPREP is accepting evacuees from Jasper at the reception centre set up in Bonnetts Energy Centre.

The city says the reception centre will be open until 8:00 p.m. on July 23rd, and again from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on July 24th to facilitate evacuee registration, which provides access to food and lodging.

GPREP Director of Emergency Management Dan Lemieux says the city is “open and ready” to accept and register evacuees who choose to come to Grande Prairie.

“We strongly encourage evacuees to register as soon as possible so they can access food and lodging at no cost.”

Evacuees in Prince George who require transportation to Grande Prairie are advised that busses will depart to transport up to 45 passengers each at 4:00 p.m. PST on July 23rd, and another at 10:00 a.m. PST on July 24th.

Evacuees are asked to contact GPREP at (780)-830-5002 with any additional questions about the reception centre from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday.

The results of the City of Grande Prairie’s Resident Satisfaction Survey were presented in council, highlighting key areas of note among the city’s residents.

The survey was conducted in the Spring of this year and saw 402 responses from residents who answered a variety of questions regarding life in Grande Prairie.

Within the survey, residents identified a number of important issues facing the city, with nearly one in four respondents citing homelessness as the single most important issue for council to tackle in 2024. The top three issues identified in the survey include, homelessness programming, property taxes being “too high,” and lowering the crime rate in the city.

When it comes to quality of life, the “vast majority” of residents said they feel that quality of life in the city is “good” or “very good,” a 21 per cent increase from the 70 per cent of residents who felt similarly in 2022.

This year, roughly two in five residents said they felt that quality of life has worsened in the past three years. Of the residents who said they feel the quality of life has improved over the past three years, nearly 25 percent say maintaining good infrastructure and roads is why.

A sense of community pride remains strong in the city and has remained consistent over the past few years with 86 per cent of residents saying they feel proud to live in Grande Prairie.

Grande Prairie City Council’s Strategy and Communication Services Committee opted to receive the report for information.

The County of Grande Prairie Regional Fire Service has classified the two wildfires reported on the weekend as “under control.”

According to the fire service, fire personnel returned to the fire located south of Range Road 51 on the north bank of the Wapiti River to address hotspots on Sunday, while a second fire was detected at around 8:00 p.m. that evening south of Range Road 44 near the Bear River.

Both fires were assessed the morning of July 22nd and officials suggest they are no longer showing any signs of heat and the blaze near Range Road 51 has been wrapped with a containment guard.

The County says fire crews are no longer on-site but will remain in the area to patrol over the coming days.

Anyone in the area for recreation is asked to not disturb any fire equipment left in place.

Thousands of residents, travellers and campers are slowly scattering across two provinces as a wildfire has prompted the evacuation of both Jasper National Park and the Municipality of Jasper.

The evacuation order went out around 10 p.m. Monday, as the wildfire near the municipality remains out of control. Initially, residents and tourists were being directed westwards along Highway 16 into British Columbia to a welcome centre in the small community of Valemount, approximately 125 kilometres away. However, updates from officials on social media say the small town has limited resources and cannot accommodate any more evacuees at this point.

According to Alberta 511, Highway 16 east of Jasper is open for those still needing to exit the park or townsite. However, eastbound and westbound Highway 16 is only open for traffic for vehicles leaving the area, there is still no entry into the park from any direction.

Currently, evacuation reception centres are set up in Grande Prairie and Calgary.

AHS has announced the temporary closure of the Fairview Health Complex Emergency Department due to the inability to secure physician coverage.

From 7:00 a.m. July 22nd to 7:00 a.m. July 24th, and again from 7:00 a.m. July 26th to 7:00 a.m. July 27th, the ED will be without physician coverage.

AHS says nursing staff will remain on-site to provide triage, assessments, and referrals for patients to alternate emergency departments in surrounding communities.

Residents are asked to call 9-1-1 in case of emergency and EMS will remain available to the community and will be re-routed to surrounding healthcare centers. For non-emergencies residents are asked to call Health Link at 8-1-1, for 24/7 inquiries.

Police are asking for the public’s help locating a missing 41-year-old man.

According to Grande Prairie RCMP, the last time anyone to anyone in his community spoke to Jonathan Meyer was back in May. Police say his family is concerned for his well-being and would like to talk to him.

The Grande Prairie man is described as being 5′ 8″, weighing roughly 135 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.

Anyone who knows where Meyer is is asked to contact RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

Grande Prairie home sales declined in June compared to the same month in 2023.

According to the Alberta Real Estate Association, 104 homes were sold, a 5.6 per cent year-over-year decline. One hundred and fifty properties sold were detached homes with an average price of $361,755. Across the board, the average price in the swan city was $330,986, which was a two per cent uptick from the same month last year. Though the average cost was up the number of new home to hit the market also saw a downward trend.

To date, this year, Grande Prairie home sales are up by six per cent, while the number of listings put on the market is down compared to the same benchmark in 2023. The average price for the same period as last year has seen a four per cent bump to $331,234.

It was a busy weekend for firefighters across the region with numerous new starts and flareups around the County of Grande Prairie and the MD of Greenview.

As a result, the MD of Greenview is asking residents to stay aware of any wildfire sightings and has shared a few steps to take when reporting a wildfire.

According to the MD, should you see a fire in a forested area, the first step is to call 310-FIRE to ensure authorities are made aware and can action the blaze as soon as possible.

County of Grande Prairie Fire Chief Trevor Grant suggests that calls from the public have been instrumental in wildfire mitigation across the Peace Country, and encourages all residents to report wildfires as soon as they see them.

“If people see smoke, we encourage them to call it in because if they think- oh somebody else will do it, we really need to get that information to be notified of those fires early so we can actually get crews there to mitigate it when it’s small,” he says. “We really are relying on the public to make those calls for us.”

The MD adds that when calling 310-FIRE, taking note of the wildfire’s location, what is burning, how fast it appears to be spreading, smoke colour, and smoke movement and thickness are critical in providing firefighters the information they need.

April saw the lowest number of accidental fatal drug poisonings reported in Grande Prairie to date in 2024.

According to the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System, in April there was a single accidental fatal drug poisoning reported. The incident was connected to non-pharmaceutical opioids and is down from the eight incidents reported between January and February and three incidents reported in March.

Between January and April of 2024, there were 12 fatal drug-related poisonings reported in Grande Prairie.

Across Alberta, there were 90 opioid-related fatal drug poisonings in April, with 452 reported in the first four months of the year.

Decades-long temperature records continued to unofficially break amid last week’s heat wave with highs of more than 30 degrees holding for several days in a row.

Most of the heat records for Alberta have been held for several decades despite seemingly record-breaking temperatures that occur nearly every summer. Environment and Climate Change Meteorologist Brian Proctor says this is due to the way ECC utilizes different temperature reading methods to develop a period-specific “long-term” temperature record.

“We try to think about these things in a number of ways, part of the problem is our climate records tend to get breaks in them,” he says.

Proctor explains that when ECC looks at potential record breakers, a number of factors are considered before the record can be officially called “broken.” He says looking at a variety of temperature readings is a critical part of the process, to ensure the new records are verifiable.

“We use sort of a blended long-term climate record, melding all the sites together that we can in the area to come up with a long-term climate record for the area,” he says. “It’s a little bit different than what’s displayed on the weather office web page but it’s fairly similar.”

Taking a look at Environment Canada’s web page reveals that the highest recorded, verified temperatures are typically measured between the mid-1940s and the early 2010s, despite temperatures shattering the old records in recent times.

Proctor says when new records are verified, special notices will be available to view on ECC’s website.

Fire crews in the County of Grande Prairie were dealing with two wildfires in the area as of 8 p.m. Sunday.

According to officials, members of the County Regional Fire Service were called to a new fire south of Range Road 44 near the Bear River around 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 21st. The fire is located east of the fireguard and according to a release from the county “is being actioned by Alberta Wildfire air tankers and County fire crews.”

Crews also were dealing with hot spots from Saturday’s wildfire on the north bank of the Wapiti River.

According to county officials, crews will be working on both fires Monday. There is currently no threat to the public and people are being asked to stay clear of the area.

An air quality advisory has been issued for much of the Peace Country due to wildfire smoke in the region.

The areas of Grande Prairie, Peace River, the MD of Greenview, Yellowhead County, Woodlands County, and the communities within them are currently under the advisory due to heavy smoke.

According to Environment Canada, during the smokey conditions, everyone is at risk of adverse health effects associated with smoke inhalation. Seniors, pregnant women, smokers, infants, children, people working outdoors, and those with an existing illness are more likely to be impacted by the smoke and are encouraged to stay indoors during this time.

When indoors, Environment Canada recommends keeping windows and doors closed as much as possible.

Due to the extreme heat in the area combined with the smoke, officials suggest prioritizing keeping cool, and always follow health guidance from local authorities such as AHS.

Update: As of 11 p.m. Saturday, officials say the fire has been extinguished. However, air crews will continue to monitor the situation for the next few days.

County Regional Fire Service crews are is battling two wildfires south of Range Road 51 on the north bank of the Wapiti River.

Both fires, according to the county, are located south of the fireguard and are being actioned by Alberta Wildfire air tankers. County fire crews are working on gaining access by ground.

The fires are located in the Wapiti trails area, and the public is urged to asked to steer clear of the area to allow aircraft and firefighters the room to work. The two fires are close in proximity to each other, and there is currently no threat to the public.

The wildfire danger in the Grande Prairie Forest Area has been classified as extreme and a Red Flag Watch is in effect for the area.

According to Alberta Wildfire, a red flag watch comes ahead of critical fire danger in an area, and the region’s fire index is forecasted to have a “crossover.”

Alberta Wildfire explains that crossover occurs when the air temperature reading and the relative humidity reading are equal, and serves as an indicator of “extreme” burning conditions, meaning that if a fire were to start during this time, the blaze could spread quickly and become difficult to control.

The fire service maintains that visitors and residents in the Grande Prairie Forest Area must use caution while working or using the forest for recreation.

Firefighters urge everyone to report wildfires by calling 310-FIRE (3473).

The Grande Prairie region is due for thunderstorms for most of the week, following a week of extreme heat in the area.

As a result, the risk of lightning-caused wildfires has increased substantially according to numerous officials, leading to fire bans due to the extreme fire danger in the region.

Additionally, the Provincial Government released an advisory for residents to prepare for increased thunderstorms throughout the province. According to the province, severe weather can bring damaging conditions such as strong winds, hail, lightning, and in some cases, tornadoes.

The province says the best steps to take before a thunderstorm include securing loose objects in case of strong winds, staying up to date on the latest information, and covering vehicles in case of hail.

During a thunderstorm, residents are advised to move to a safe place away from windows and doors and avoid using electrical equipment. At the first sight of lightning, residents should consider unplugging electrical appliances, avoid using showers, sinks, and tubs, stay away from outlets, and wait 30 minutes after the last rumble of thunder before going outside.

When it comes to rainfall, property owners are urged to check the drainage around homes to prevent basement flooding, take preventative measures such as grading, and ensure a reliable drainage system is available in basements.

As of July 19th, a heavy rainfall warning has been issued for the Grande Prairie area, and the Government of Alberta maintains that warnings will be issued when 50 mm or more of rain is expected within one hour.

Most of western Canada is in the midst of what Environment Canada is calling a “prolonged heat event,” responsible for “significantly above normal” temperatures.

Environment and Climate Change Canada meteorologist Brian Proctor explains that the heat boils down to a number of factors, a “significant” amount of heat rising into the atmosphere, which has built over the southwestern U.S. through much of early summer, and we are now feeling that impact.

“Typically for this time of the year, normal for the Grande Prairie Airport would be 22 degrees for the daytime high and lows of about 10,” he says. “We’re seeing temperatures significantly above that, about 10 degrees, 11 degrees above those kinds of values.”

Proctor suggests that along with record breaking high temperatures in some places, including Grande Prairie, warm nighttime lows have also give the feeling that the heat never lets up.

“Importantly, we’re seeing these anomalously warm temperatures through the overnight period as well, and what that’s doing is really allowing that sort of heat to build up and we’re gradually seeing these temperatures popping up a bit more every day,” he says. “The one complicating fact for the Grande Prairie area is you’re getting brushed by these weak upper troughs in the flow of the atmosphere that are giving the potential for lightning as well which is really not good news when we think about what’s going on.”

According to Proctor, the unsettled weather could lead to severe thunderstorms, which also ratchets up the risk for wildfires.

“All that’s doing is increasing the potential for forest fire danger, and also pushing the humidity even higher which is making people even more uncomfortable.”

Some Grande Prairie residents might remember the unusually warm winter earlier this year. Proctor explains that the weather observed in January and February was mostly due to the above-average surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, brought on by El Niño phenomenon. How adds, however, that conditions have largely returned to being called “neutral.”

“The warm winter was a consequence of El Niño to a large degree and El Niño really started to wain in the second half of the winter, and we’re really back to sort of neutral conditions in terms of El Niño or La Niña,” he says.

Grande Prairie remains under a heat warning for much of the rest of the week, until July 24th when temperatures are forecasted to cool off to around 23 degrees.

The 24th Annual International Street Performers Festival returns to the City of Grande Prairie on July 19th after a few preview shows in Wembley, Beaverlodge, and Sexsmith.

Downtown Association Executive Director and Festival Co-Chair Wendy Bosch says she is excited for the free festival to return once again, and adds that she sees the festival as a significant economic driver for the city’s downtown core.

“I’m really excited to see a free festival for the public, I think that is a fantastic way to get people out and engaging and enjoying the weather,” she says. “We love to see that people are coming to visit the core, our businesses are excited to be a part of this, it’s a great opportunity, whether it’s retail, a restaurant, cafes, or lounges, there are all kinds of businesses people can check out while they’re out visiting the city core, I think it’s important.”

This year boasts a variety of acts coming to the city for the first time, including some from Mexico, Ghana, Australia, the United States, Japan, and Canada featuring everything from circus acts, juggling, comedy, contortionists, and more.

The event calls itself the largest free outdoor festival in the region, touring nearby communities and giving smaller towns and municipalities a chance to experience top-quality outdoor entertainment without carrying the weight of the cost.

“The group that does it is out of Edmonton, so the ability to have them come here is pretty extraordinary,” Bosch says.

“We include regional municipalities so as far as I know, there’s no other festival that does that, so to bring in the street performers is a lofty planning goal for us, but we are including these smaller municipalities who could probably not bring in something this large,” she adds. “It allows these regional communities to bring in some high-end quality entertainment and not have to carry the entire cost of bringing something like that in.”

This year boasts a hefty 21-act lineup for attendees to enjoy for free from July 19th to the 21st.