Just days after invoking fire restrictions across Lamont County, a fire broke out Good Friday that ravaged parts of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village destroying the main information centre.
In a statement from Lamont Communications Coordinator Jay Zaal, emergency services responded initially around 2:30 p.m with all stations from Andrew, Chipman, Mundare, Lamont and Bruderheim.
He added Strathcona emergency services were called in for additional help.
Zaal added the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
“High winds created significant challenges, and it was too windy for air support on the day of the fire but Lamont Emergency Services was able to call in air support Sunday to address hotspots,” said Zaal.
“Crews worked extremely hard against strong winds to protect all the buildings. They were successful in preserving all the historical buildings, but unfortunately some administrative and operational buildings were lost, and this is devastating.
“A huge credit to the firefighters for their hard work to save what they could,” concluded Zaal.
The fire jumped to the north side of Highway 16 resulting in RCMP closing the major east/west highway for some time. It has since reopened.
RCMP issued a localized Alberta Emergency Alert (AEA) for precautionary evacuation preparation. The provincial alert was cancelled 30 min after it was put in place once the fire was contained and residents/houses were no longer under potential risk.
Destroyed by fire at the Village just east of Elk Island National Park, was the information centre which also contained public washrooms, a gift shop and administrative offices.
No damage estimate was available.
Lamont County Emergency Services Deputy Regional Fire Chief Scott Calder told Edmonton media high winds spread the flames rapidly.
“Crews worked pretty hard and tried to get ahead of it as best we could,” he said. “We didn’t want it to get to this point, but we were fighting some pretty astronomical environmental issues.”
Calder said around 30 firefighters helped put out the flames. He said the initial call came in from south of Highway 16 outside of the park.
Fort Saskatchewan RCMP said the fire started amid dry conditions east of Elk Island National Park, behind the Village.
Calder said calls for grass or wildfires are likely to become increasingly common in the weeks ahead.
“We would always recommend people to maintain their vegetation around their homes, ensure they don’t have too much growing right next to buildings,” he said.
“Keep a clean yard. It’s going to help decrease that spread of fire in the event of an accident.”
“This is a profound loss – not only for the Ukrainian community, but for all Albertans who value and honour our province’s diverse cultural heritage,” said Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir in a joint statement issued April 18 with Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong Homeniuk.
John Mather,
Staff Reporter
Photos by Crystal Moren
