Courtesy of the Town of Rainbow Lake:
May 30 2023 – We have good news today. Last night Atco was able to restore the power to the Town of Rainbow Lake. This was one of our big concerns about our Friday June 2nd re-entry date and it has now been resolved. The fire is still active around the Cenovus plant and spotting along Highway 58, but our hope is with the cooler temperatures, this will be safe by Friday. Alberta Wildfire and our Fire crew have made these areas as well as the Eastern guard protecting Chateh their top priorities.
Today and tomorrow we will be bringing Town staff back in to progress clean up and get prepared for our re-entry day. When everyone does come back into Town, please know that you will be restricted to staying in Town. The roads surrounding the Town have a number of trees already down, coming down and are still active fire areas. We will place barricades to block off these roads until they are safe to travel. We will also be asking residents to stay away from the emergency operations area around the Air Tanker Base and the Rainbow Lake Fire Hall. This is a staging and briefing area for our crews and we do not want to impede the great work these groups are doing.
Please do not attempt to enter the Town before the re-entry date. There is still a lot happening here, with active hot spots still being worked on, and we do not want anyone to get hurt. I do also want to stress that while everything looks good for our re-entry date today, things may change quickly. If anything happens that may threaten our June 2nd re-entry day, we will provide updates to that effect right away.
Please stay safe and look for more instructions on our website www.rainbowlake.ca regarding safe re-entry.
