‘Our identity’: Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village damaged in Good Friday wildfire

Fire crews east of Edmonton worked to mop up hot spots early Saturday from a Good Friday wildfire that left parts of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in ruins, though the site’s historical buildings appear to have escape unscathed.

Carol Slukynski travelled from Fort Saskatchewan to visit the site on Saturday after hearing about the fire from a nearby farmer the day before.

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“Those buildings mean a lot to continue to preserve our Ukrainian culture and our identity, especially with what is going on with the war in Ukraine,” she said.

“I wanted to come out here to to share the resilience and also to put at ease some of the people that are worried about what has happened here.”

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Lamont County Emergency Services said Saturday the fire remained under control but the buildings housing the site’s visitor centre and washrooms burned to the ground.

“It’s horrible to see,” said Slukynski. “It doesn’t take you long to think about what happened in Jasper and all the other communities like Slave Lake and Fort McMurray.”

Lamont County Emergency Services Deputy Regional Fire Chief Scott Calder said high winds spread the flames rapidly.

“Crews worked pretty hard and tried to get ahead of it as best we could,” he said.

“We didn’t want it to get to this point, but we were fighting some pretty astronomical environmental issues.”

Calder said around 30 firefighters helped put out the flames that were first reported around 2 p.m. on Friday. He said the initial call came in from south of Highway 16 outside of the park.

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Fort Saskatchewan RCMP said the fire started amid dry conditions east of Elk Island National Park, behind the village, about 50 kilometres east of Edmonton.

The fire triggered evacuations Friday night, shutting down Highway 16 at the park. The highway has since reopened.

Calder said calls for grass or wildfires are likely to become increasingly common in the weeks ahead.

“We would always recommend people to maintain their vegetation around their homes, ensure they don’t have too much growing right next to buildings,” he said. “Keep a clean yard. It’s going to help decrease that spread of fire in the event of an accident.”

In a statement, Arts, Culture and Status of Women Minister Tanya Fir, and Parliamentary secretary for settlement services and Ukrainian evacuees Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, called the damage “a profound loss.”

“These buildings included exhibit spaces and housed many irreplaceable artifacts that told the stories of generations of Ukrainian Albertans,” it reads.

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The Alberta government acquired the site in 1975 and the statement says it is committed to reopening the village “when it is safe and appropriate to do so.”

— With files from David Boom

mblack@postmedia.com

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