FIRE FIRE!! Slave Lake AB Evac!

Status
Not open for further replies.

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Oh my goodness, are you guys seeing this... They have the whole town of Slave Lake AB on Evac... at one point they were landlocked by firestorms 70 kph winds...

They lost the Radio station, Mall, Police station and many homes so far...

Slave Lake Fire. May 15, 2011. - StumbleUpon
Video of fire bombers.

92.7 Lake FM|News- FIRE UPDATE
Photos.


Are there any live feeds for FIRETAC in this area? My girlfriend has extended family here, she has been in contact with a few of them so far... so "good" as they are safe for now...
 

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
Feed Provider
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
9,378
Location
Bragg Creek, Alberta
Disaster in NW Alberta - Wildfires

As I post this, the Slave Lake region of west central Alberta is inundated with forest fires. According to Sustainable Resource Development (SRD) Department of Forest Protection, there are 27 fires in the Slave region, 17 of them out of control, totaling over 20,300 hectares (50,000 acres). The town of Slave Lake was evacuated earlier Sunday after a state of emergency was declared. Twitter posts are indicating that several structures inside town - including the town hall and hospital - are well involved in fire.

Citizens in Slave Lake were earlier tonight told to evacuate and/or head for the lake beach, airstrip, or other open, safe areas. Extreme winds (gusts over 100km/h or 60mph) have been reported.

Many other wildfires are burning in other regions. SRD has issued an evacuation order in Chisholm, about 40km (25mi) SE of Slave Lake. Peace River and Red Earth Creek, about 100km NW and 100km N of Slave respectively, are also performing evacuations.

Twitter is performing an important role in this catastrophe. Hashtag #ABFire is being used to reference any of the wildfires or communications thereof, and @ABGovWildfire is the provincial wildfire coordination center's account reporting actions and situations.

Over 1000 wildland firefighters are already working in Alberta on these fires. Crews from Ontario and British Columbia are en route and expected to arrive on Tuesday.

All the best thoughts to the crews working these horrific situations and everyone else affected by them.

SRD Active Fires PDF: http://srd.alberta.ca/Wildfire/WildfireStatus/Reports/activedd.pdf

Photos from LakeFM showing the fires going on in town. LakeFM and the town hall are confirmed destroyed, "hundreds" of other buildings involved. 92.7 Lake FM|News- FIRE UPDATE
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Residents are being evacuated and are going to other nearby towns like Westlock and Athabasca.

I guess we shall see in the next few days what happens but communications are down for the most part and info is hard to get as the fires continue to burn large portions of the town.

All we can hope for is that everyone got out in time.

This is a disaster ... and for the most part it is not getting the attention in the media compared to the floods in Manitoba yet the situation is far worse.
 

harryshute

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
1,867
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA
The ARES frequency put in use last night is still on the air. 145.410 is being manned at the AEMA west Edmonton emergency center. There is now talk of deployment to Athabasca. Also being used is 80 meters on 3.700. 145.410 is linked to the Athabsca HAM repeater.
 

harryshute

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
1,867
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA
In the Edmonton area monitor ARES activity on 145.410 linked to the Athabasca HAM repeater. ARES members are manning the base at the Alberta Emergency Management Agency office in West Edmonton. Talk of deployment to Athabasca is currently being discussed. Athabasca is one of the centers used after the evacuation of Slave Lake last night.
 

LowbandGuy

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2008
Messages
123
Location
Remote Location Maritime Provinces, Canada
Any live feeds that we can monitor? Or do any of the Amateur repeaters being used have Echolink that one can listen to? I have a friend who works with one of the Forestry Companies and lives in that community, I hope he and his family are safe.
 

harryshute

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
Messages
1,867
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA
I heard on the ARES net that Edmonton Fire Radio is streaming the feed. Sounds like deployment is now moving from Athabasca to Slave Lake where communications are devastated.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Yup Edmonton fire radio is running a fire net check in and availability right now. Sounds like they are deploying to Slave lake for support on site communications. AEMA resources.

Sounds like Grand Prairie unit is going too.
 

rescue54

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2008
Messages
64
I may be leaving with a crew and truck tonight for the area. Jay, can you recommend a (or few) feq's I should put in my scanner before I go.
 

rescue54

Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2008
Messages
64
is that the shortwave band? I will be on duty up there but using the scanner as extra resource. Any info you want to send to me I will try to be of help. I am AEMA certified (2nd resource) now but will be going with fire dept so anything I do will be seperate from the FD. But yes if I go I can try to help with info. Email all relevant info to spmail (at) shaw (dot) ca.
 

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
Feed Provider
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
9,378
Location
Bragg Creek, Alberta
I may be leaving with a crew and truck tonight for the area. Jay, can you recommend a (or few) feq's I should put in my scanner before I go.

I was out today and couldn't get to a computer till now. Hopefully this is still of use.

Anywhere in this province you should have the following three simplex channels:

- Provincial Fire 156.855 CSQ
- Provincial Ambulance 158.760 CSQ
- RCMP Tac 9 155.670 CSQ

Go to the Alberta main page to the Forestry category and pull the Firenet "Fireline" freqs too. They're used by wildland ground crews - IIRC #38 is the most often used one around my neck of the woods, but I don't know if that's a "default" everywhere.

I was in the Red Deer area today when the CFD convoy rolled through. (My understanding is that 1 quint, 5 engines, 1 aerial, 1 air-light, and 1 district chief, all off-duty members, have gone north, as well as CAN-TF2 very early this morning.) They were chatting on B1. So I would put CFD's B-series simplex and mobile repeater channels in there if you have 800 capability.

Also, I spoke with someone in CAN-TF2's communications section this morning and got the impression they're going to try to connect their comms there with here. I've seen it tested before and it has the potential to work really well. Those of us staying back in earshot of the city would probably do well to keep listening to CFD A12 and A13 (the Disaster Services/EMO channels).

The RRDB doesn't have any Slave Lake info, but the TAFL has this to offer.

Airport UNICOM: 122.2
Slave EMS: 159.975 Martin Mountain XJZ975, 461.1500 mobile simplex?
Slave FD: 169.050 Smith VFN610, 151.295 Martin Mountain VAM347, 169.260 mobile simplex?
RCMP: Obviously RCMP are not listed in the TAFL. I usually put the whole of PACS into my scanner and then I end up getting it no matter what channel they're on.

If you do go, best of luck and we're all thinking of all of you, including those who have been displaced.
 
Last edited:

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
Feed Provider
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
9,378
Location
Bragg Creek, Alberta
3.675Mhz is also active net for Fire-net ARES.

Edit: Also this is all linked in to the ARES firenet.
Northern Alberta Radio Club Amateur Repeater Network Live Scanner Audio Feed

I hope this feed is not the net being used at this very moment. I am hearing OFs jawing about getting the emails they're sending one another, and someone else talking about going to the bank and getting/depositing cheques. Definitely not the kind of comms needed in a time like this.
 

Jay911

Silent Key (April 15th, 2023)
Feed Provider
Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
9,378
Location
Bragg Creek, Alberta
Note Slave Lake is usually on RCMP B9 155.595 131.8. Probably just a typo but RCMP Tac 9 is 155.670 CS.

My bad, trying to put too many frequencies in my head/the post at the same time. Thanks for clarifying.

EDIT: The above live audio link is not the emergency net - guys on there are saying it changed to another repeater.

Ok, located the net on EFR.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top