May 9, 2025 | 1:30 PM
The below statement from Mayor Alanna Hnatiw is in response to the wildfire near Redwater Provincial Recreation Area in Sturgeon County.
Seven days and over 20 updates have passed since the Redwater Provincial Recreation Area fire began. During this time, we have extended and expanded our State of Local Emergency, and the Sturgeon Regional Emergency Management Partnership (SREMP) emergency coordination centre remains activated. The Evacuation Reception Centre was relocated from Redwater to the Morinville Leisure Centre in response to the shifting high winds and the town of Redwater being placed on Evacuation Alert.
Early May is usually a time for calving, seeding, trees budding and dandelions proliferating. Instead, we are faced with evacuations, road closures, business closures, routines unraveled, workflows interrupted and anxiety about what else the future holds. The stewardship of the land that often fills our days has taken a drastic turn while we are forced to stand back, and watch nature take its turn. The sprint that began to battle this blaze has become a marathon and we will work to adapt.
Our Sturgeon County Emergency Services team, Provincial Wildfire Resource Branch, Ministries of Forestry, Transportation and Parks, neighbouring counties of Parkland, Lamont, Strathcona and Thorhild, and RCMP, along with many community members, have dedicated long hours to saving lives, livestock and homes. I also commend our invaluable SREMP partners—Towns of Morinville, Redwater, Gibbons, Bon Accord, and Legal. We will continue to work with all means at our disposal to support our community in saving what we can and recovering when we can.
On behalf of Sturgeon County Council, we acknowledge the hardships faced by those displaced and the triumph achieved by a generous and compassionate community that has pulled together.
