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soren's avatar
soren
Explorer
Jul 10, 2015

Fire between Grand Prairie and the Icefields Parkway

We arrived in Grand Prairie, Alberta. This evening, after heading up the Icefields Parkway today. There is an active, and currently out of control, fire burning on HWY 40, roughly 50 kilometers(31 miles) south of town. At 7PM we were stopped by a patrol officer, who was limiting traffic to one lane, one direction at a time, to avoid head on collisions. At that time there were three tankers on it, including a large jet that came up from the states. The fire is close enough to the road that we drove through a bright red area of retardant, dropped right on the highway. For those of you heading south, and planning on taking HWY 40 from Grand Prairie to Hinton, to visit the parkway and Banff, check in town before heading down 40. Currently the winds have shifted, and the smoke is in GP, giving the sky a weird pink tone, as the sun sets. Be careful out there.
  • FishHaggis's avatar
    FishHaggis
    Explorer
    Jul 13, 2015
    Was really bad last year for fires and they say this is worse. Stay safe.
  • n7bsn's avatar
    n7bsn
    Explorer
    Jul 11, 2015
    The fires in Sask were so bad last week at times you couldn't see 1/4 mile, and the fires were 100 miles north of us.
    Lots of evacuations, lots of fires. They are looking at bringing in extra crews from New Zealand, Aus and the US
  • pconroy328's avatar
    pconroy328
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2015
    Man, I feel for you folks suffering through fires. We've had more than our fair share the last few years. But this year, we're getting a ton of rain. I can't recall a spring / summer this wet in Colorado.

    Stay safe.
  • mockturtle's avatar
    mockturtle
    Explorer II
    Jul 10, 2015
    It's a bad, bad year for fires! The smoke was so thick on the Taylor Hwy in AK yesterday that it was hard to see the road in places. Driving from Tok to Destruction Bay today I saw evidence of fires that had burned since I went through in early June. And in Willow, there are charred forests on both sides of the highway. Smoky almost everywhere, even back home in WA from several fires there. Too much lightning, too little rain.
  • Paoli's avatar
    Paoli
    Explorer
    Jul 10, 2015
    ALSO: The Big Beaver Creek fire, approximately 50 km south of Fort Nelson, grew to 8,200 hectares in size and caused a temporary closure of the Alaska Highway.

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