A massive wildfire destroyed over 31,000 hectares (313 square kilometres) of land out on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range when it burned from late May into June.
A crew of over 330 firefighters from across Canada along with air tankers, 16 helicopters, 18 dozers, water trucks, fire engines and other heavy equipment joined forces to fight the smoldering deep burning ground fire, which started on the afternoon of May 22.
Over the course of a three-week period the crews were able to build a dozer guard to contain the wildfire, while others worked their way through the smoldering ground fire ensuring it was extinguished.
The fight to extinguish the fire turned tragic when a 38-year-old civilian pilot died after his water bomber crashed while he was helping fight the out-of-control blaze 40 kilometres north of Cold Lake.
“Fire guards have been established on the southwest and northwest sides. They are designed to both contain the fire and protect critical oil and gas infrastructure in the area,” said Scott Long, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, during a press conference on May 27.
On May 27 the winds shifted and sent the fire in the direction of several oil and gas operations in the region. With the massive, out-of-control wildfire heading for the only access road, personnel at Cenovus and CNRL facilities were evacuated as a precautionary move.
The shutdown, which saw Cenovus quickly evacuate 1,800 people, stopped approximately 742,000 barrels worth of production at the Foster Creek operation.
CNRL followed suit and evacuated 250 workers from their Primrose site and temporarily shut-in some crude oil operations.
“The experts on the ground are working exceptional hard and they have additional resources in place,” said Long. “They are doing their best to make sure that it does not impinge on any oil and gas infrastructure at this time.”
While the wildfire only got within 15 and 20 kilometres south of the Foster Creek facility it did reach Cenovus' Athabasca gas Caribou South plant.
Crews were given permission to return to the work sites on June 4. Upon scanning the area workers discovered a minor equipment fire at Cenovus' Athabasca gas operation.
The facility, which producers approximately 20 cubic feet per day of gas used to fuel Foster Creek, only incurred minor damage as a result of the small fire caused by the massive wildfire in the region.
