Flooding causes bridge collapse
Crews completed emergency repairs to a bridge north of Fort McMurray Sunday night, allowing about 25 people stranded in the Richardson backcountry area to safely cross the Firebag River.
Entrances to both sides of the Firebag River bridge, about 100 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray, eroded and collapsed over the weekend. The north bank washed out at about 5 p.m. Saturday. The south entrance collapsed Sunday, complicating the work.
“It’s not a full vehicle bridge, but it’s used for people who are going to go out and do quading and camping,” Darby Allen, regional fire chief and director of emergency management in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said Sunday. “There’s a staging area about 12 kilometres before and that’s where people park their trucks and then quad in.”
To create the temporary fix, staff from the municipality and Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources, with help from Phoenix Helicopters, used power line poles and planks to bridge the gaps over the river and allow people to drive their quads over the bridge.
Estimates are between 20 to 60 campers were stranded by the bridge collapse, including six to eight government employees working for Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
Municipal officials warned the repair should be viewed as temporary measure since the river continues to eat away at the banks. Provincial officials will be urging campers still in the area to return to Fort McMurray.
“Campers and backcountry users are strongly urged to stay on the south side of the Firebag River Bridge,” a news release Sunday night said.
The rescue comes as the remaining mandatory evacuation order for a Fort McMurray neighbourhood has been changed to a voluntary evacuation order.
As river levels fell, as many as 121 people from the Ptarmigan Trailer Court were eligible to return to their homes Sunday morning.
Fort McMurray has been under a local state of emergency since June 11 over flooding caused by Hangingstone River.
“Those guys have been out the longest. They were the first to go and the last to come back, so we’re pleased to let them back in,” Allen said.
Sixty-nine units at the Ptarmigan Court Trailer Park received mandatory evacuation notices June 11.
“A stream that flows through there was almost turned into two rivers. There was quite a significant amount of water there,” Allen said.
RCMP are assisting with reentry to the neighbourhood, which is open to local traffic only. Residents are still advised to exercise extreme caution in the area.
In a news release issued Sunday, Mayor Melissa Blake thanked residents for their patience and resilience during “an extremely difficult week.”
Premier Alison Redford was in Fort McMurray Friday afternoon surveying the flood damage. Redford said the province is on standby if the area needs further support, and added the province will continue to work with the community as they move forward and assess the damage.
On Saturday, a mandatory evacuation order was lifted for as many as 360 people in the Grayling Terrace and Draper Road communities. It is not known how many people participated in the evacuations.
The municipality closed the emergency reception centre at the Frank Lacroix Arena on Sunday at noon once all mandatory evacuation orders had been lifted. Overall, 489 evacuees registered at the centre.
Rainfall on Saturday was not as heavy as predicted and the historic high water levels on the Hangingstone River have dropped. At the same time, crews have been working to protect the eroding the river bank with blocks of concrete.