BOYLE – Athabasca County and the Village of Boyle had the region’s first wildfire scare of the year after strong winds and dry conditions caused a fire to quickly spread out of control towards the village.
In the afternoon on May 6, a fire started along Highway 831, between the Boyle fish pond and the Ellscott turnoff. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but it quickly travelled north along the roadside ditches, carried by strong winds and springtime conditions.
Athabasca County and the Village of Boyle fire crews responded, but were unable to get the blaze under control immediately. The two municipalities both declared a state of local emergency (SOLE) by 6 p.m. in order to evacuate the immediate area, as well as place the village under an evacuation alert.
“With safety being of the utmost importance, and because a SOLE empowers municipalities to take extraordinary actions to address the immediate threat, it was imperative to act quickly,” said county Reeve Tracy Holland in a May 6 statement.
The fire continued to move closer to Boyle despite the firefighters' best efforts. Ground crews got started building a berm to try and prevent the fire from reaching the townsite, and air resources from the province of Alberta got involved as well.
Once the fire reached a so-called “trigger point” about a mile and a half from the village — near Township Road 644 — the decision was made to issue an evacuation order for Boyle, as well as additional Athabasca County residents.
“Our provincial partners made this seamless for us. They brought in numerous avenues to make things easier for us,” said village Mayor Colin Derko.
The evacuation started at 10:49 p.m., with residents directed to go to a reception centre at Lac La Biche. Crews continued to fight the fire overnight, with additional teams travelling in from Strathmore, Slave Lake, Penhold, Lac La Biche, and the forestry department.
By Wednesday morning, the fire’s growth had been slowed, although not stopped, less than a mile south of Boyle. The county credited the crews hard work, alongside a precipitous change in the wind as deciding factors.
The greater region rallied around the community, offering everything from manpower to a place to stay for evacuees, something Holland was thankful for.
“We live in a small community where everybody is friends and everybody is neighbours, so everyone stands together. They’ve offered homes, they’ve offered pasture, they’re offering anything for livestock, horses, all of those things,” she said.
“It’s been an amazing outpouring of support.”
Conditions remained the same for much of Wednesday and the county was confident the fire wasn’t going to grow further overnight thanks to a complete fire line. Overnight rain helped immensely, cooling conditions down. Despite the fire’s spread — it had burned over 1,000 hectares by Wednesday evening — no homes were lost, although some outbuildings like barns or sheds did burn.
“It was incredible how the crews worked together. That first night, when we called the order, it was not good. It was coming fast and they were in danger,” said Derko.
“They just kept working and they never lost one house, no livestock, it’s nothing short of a miracle.”
At 10 a.m. Thursday, Boyle residents were cleared to return to their homes, alongside most Athabasca County evacuees. FortisAlberta worked all day Wednesday to restore power to the area after 23 power poles burned, and the county provided bussing to get evacuees back from Lac La Biche.
The fire guard was completed Thursday morning, and crews were able to work on mopping up hot spots as well as flare ups. After another day of work on the fire, the remaining evacuees were allowed back in their homes by Friday afternoon, and the Boyle SOLE concluded.
As of May 12, the evacuation alert was still in place for certain Athabasca County residents, and the municipality’s SOLE was still in place. Alberta Forestry crews are still working on scene, although municipal crews have demobilized. Speed restrictions are in place along Highway 831 as crews continue to work.
