Forest fires are running wild in Alberta and the CTV National News just said that vertually every heavy lift helicopter in Canada is in Alberta to fight the fires directly. All around Slave Lake and Athabasca. There are over a 1000 firefighters on the ground now with more coming in from all points in the country and some from the US also.

ITD, keep us posted. We just had a bunch of wild fires that burned thousands of arces just West of hear. Ones in Alberta would have more fuel. Lost a couple fire fighters. Hope yours stay safe. Mother nature finally came along with some rain and finally put everything out. Lots of cattle and wildlife lost. The high fences to control the deer heards were devastating.

To both Ron and Slim...that is terrible guys...floods are one thing...but nothing, NOTHING, is more terrifying than a wildfire. It travels at a massive speed, and the devastation it leaves is heart rending...very little survives a wildfire.

Keep safe ITD...its times like this when they should send the crims from jail out there to give something back to society.

Cheers, Vince

Watch the gasoline prices again... several Oil production facilites affected up there too.

Never liked widlfires. Always had me hyper for a day or so after bein' in or around one.

Careful gang. Keep SAFE.

The fires are northwest 140 miles of Edmonton Alberta and we are east 321 miles of Edmonton. We had a fire late last fall, that by the grace of God was water bombed into submission. Those boys in the bombers, and the birddog that lead them in did a FANTASTIC job. They saved a lot of property and with early warnings saved lives also. The provincial fire centre is here (Prince Albert, Sask) and was right adjacent to the fire area to boot. I had the great fortune or misfortune depending on how you look at it of fighting the Harriett Lake fire in 1976 while I was in the military on adventure training in northern Saskatchewan. At that time the north was still really wild and the forest fires were so bad that year that if you were up north the RCMP Royal Canadian Mounted Police were ordered to press all persons into service, men to fight the forest fires and women and children over 14 years of age into packing supplies for the fire fighters. Small kids were all in a sort of day care camp and overseen by the ladies. The province paid everyone for their work, but it was not much. Anyway back to the main topic and that was I along with three other soldiers and four natives were pushed back by the fire as the winds came up and the fire started to crown and I swear that the native in front of me was about 300 pounds and he passed between two trees of about 6 inches diameter and 6 inches between them and I passed between the trees also hot on his heels. I was tail end Charlie. I couldn't hear anything, but the sound of a massive roar like a hundred train engines at full speed. We were running in the portage (wet area between lakes) and dumping the water out of our water packs. When we cleared the tree line and ran through the high grass I looked behind me to see what was biting my head and all I could see was fire. I kept running until I hit the water which was a surprise and as I looked up all I could see was bright light above me and then it died down and as I come to the surface our team leader was shouting to get a head count. We were all ok except that me and the guy I was following had our hair on the back of our heads burnt off along with the backs of our shirts. Our backs weren't burned too bad. I guess that God had something else in mind for us that day.

ITD, you should write a book about your experience! You captured my attention!

Some of the Canadian WF's were the worst. VERY remote, undevoloped areas with smaterings of people. Wicked difficult logisitics.

Jeesus ITD!!!!

slimjim wrote:

ITD, you should write a book about your experience! You captured my attention!

I have been asked to write a book by people throughout the last few years but I am a bit shy at the prospect of doing it. I don't know if I am afraid of failure or what. But now you got me thinking that if I just write a bit every once in a while that I may some day have some bones to build upon. Thank you for your compliment.

stovepipe wrote:

Some of the Canadian WF's were the worst. VERY remote, undevoloped areas with smaterings of people. Wicked difficult logisitics. Jeesus ITD!!!!

There is still a great deal of land that is wild and undiscovered in the northern parts of Canada. I have had the privilege to have seen and traveled throughout the North Country and I am amazed at the stark raw beauty of the land. I have felt very small when I have been in places and situations where if you make a mistake, there is no hospital close and you depend upon your knowledge, skill, and that of your companions to protect or save your life. A small mistake in the bush can kill you so easy. And when you are dealing with fire it is a great motivator. I became an Air Force Crash/Rescue Firefighter in 1991. I was afraid when I had all the bunker gear and protective equipment on when I was learning at the fire academy, and to think that all I had in the forest fire event was my combat uniform and a water pack, and the ignorance and bravado of youth.

Copy that Bossman!

Prayer and hoping they can keep it under control and not have any loss of life or property. A necessary evil of mother nature. New growth of life. We have had our share here.

This is a quote from CTV Edmonton news: Thousands of displaced residents are seeing for the first time if their home was destroyed by flames. Officials released a map Thursday showing which homes have been burned by devastating wildfires.
The map shows 374 lots in the town are destroyed and 52 lots received some damage. In the Municipal District, 59 lots are destroyed with 32 lots damaged.
"I need to caution everybody this is the best information we can provide at this time. Although we attempt very hard to be very accurate, there is still room for us being off the mark," said incident commander, Len Maccharles.
...
According to Sustainable Resource Development, 19 wildfires across the province are out of control with ten being held. In total, there are 72 active wildfires in Alberta.
In the Lesser Slave Lake area alone, 17 wildfires are burning out of control.
A wildfire in Slave Lake has burned approximately 4,558 hectares and a fire along south shore of Lesser Slave Lake has burned 21,282 hectares
Another fire 23 kilometres south of Loon Lake has burned about 30,000 hectares.
Province-wide, Alberta has deployed approximately 1,000 local firefighters, and another 400 have been brought in from British Columbia and Ontario.

The province has also deployed 134 helicopters, 32 air tankers and scores of heavy ground-based machines.

Several government agencies arrived on Thursday, including Employment and Immigration and Child and Family Services, to start working on the immediate needs of residents.

With files from Bill Fortier and Sean Amato CTV

Looks like about half the town destroyed. Evacuation centre is set up about 140 km (90miles) south of Slave Lake.

This is not good Ron...terrible destruction, not just to property, but the environment (both flora and fauna) as well mate.

Prayers and thoughts headed their way.

Cheers, Vince

look after you and yours ITD my thoughts are with you.
get past this and start writing, I for one will buy a copy or 2 of your book.