Wildfire near Camp Valaqua in July causes concern but no evacuation
When Camp Valaqua director Jon Olfert received a text on July 23 from a friend working with Alberta Wildfire saying that there was a three-acre fire 25 kilometres northwest of the camp, he didn’t think much of it. Olfert, who also works as deputy fire chief with the local Water Valley Fire Department, knew three…
The sky ablaze
Art Koop was cleaning up after teaching his last class of the day when the emergency alert blared from his cell phone. The message called for an immediate, mandatory evacuation. A wildfire threatened Edson, Alberta, the community where Koop lives and works. The sky was an eerie orange colour and thick with smoke. ‘I didn’t…
