The damage continues to grow because of wildfires sweeping the province, with officials now saying 275 structures have been lost..There are currently 93 active wildfires in the Forest Protection Area. Of these, 25 are out of control..The fire danger is extreme in northern Alberta with hot, dry conditions expected to persist over the coming days. There is a risk of wildfire throughout the province, with a moderate to high fire danger in the southern Rockies. A fire ban and an off-highway vehicle restriction are in place across the Forest Protection Area.."The current wildfire situation in Alberta remains volatile," Colin Blair, executive director for Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said Friday afternoon. ."It is critical that all Albertans remain vigilant and closely follow the wildfire situation across the province where the remains under a provincial state of emergency and the Provincial Emergency Coordination Centre remains at level four. The fire danger is rated as very high to extreme in northern Alberta and high along the eastern slopes and the Rockies.".Blair said the damage so far is estimated at 275 structures lost due to wildfires, 100 of the structures are in Fox Lake. Drayton Valley is also included in these numbers.."Structures include homes, businesses, outbuildings and other properties. I know there might be questions about where the damaged structures are, but I won't get into those details," Blair said. ."Our thoughts are with anyone who has lost homes or businesses or experienced any loss as a result of these wildfires. We know this is an extremely difficult time and the resilience of malware that Albertans have shown has been striking." .Meanwhile, Elections Alberta is taking steps to make sure people caught up in fire evacuations are able to vote May 29..Elections Alberta said it is closely monitoring the wildfires and evacuations that are occurring to determine how voters can be supported to cast their ballot. .At this time the chief electoral officer is not currently seeking to discontinue the election in any electoral division. .Voting place locations have been impacted in several electoral divisions due to wildfire activity, including:.ED 49 Athabasca-Barrhead-WestlockED 55 Central Peace NotleyED 58 Drayton Valley-DevonED 70 Lesser Slave LakeED 77 Peace River.All electors in these electoral divisions are encouraged to visit the Elections Alberta website at www.elections.ab.ca/wildfires to learn about changes to voting places. .Changes are also reflected on Elections Alberta’s Where to Vote tool at https://map.elections.ab.ca..Returning Officers continue to work with affected communities and the website will be updated with additional voting opportunities as arrangements are finalized..Between Tuesday, May 23 and Saturday, May 27 advance voting will be offered in over 300 locations across Alberta. .These locations offer the Vote Anywhere Service, meaning any elector can vote at any location and receive the ballot for their electoral division..Electors who are displaced are encouraged to locate their closest advanced voting location at https://map.elections.ab.ca. .Two advance voting locations, Swan Hills and Fox Creek, are currently unavailable due to evacuation orders. Should the evacuation order be lifted, and it is safe to do so, advance voting will proceed in these communities. For alternate options nearby, visit https://map.elections.ab.ca..Returning Officers will be working with evacuation centres to offer mobile voting services to any evacuees, firefighters, or other emergency personnel that visit the facility. The locations will allow electors to still vote in the electoral division where they ordinarily reside. As details are finalized, dates, times and locations will be posted at www.elections.ab.ca/wildfires..Any evacuee, firefighter, or other emergency personnel who is unable to access voting services is encouraged to contact the call centre at 1-877-422-8683 or info@elections.ab.ca for alternatives..There are currently 23 states of local emergency, as well as five band council resolutions and 10,523 Albertans, remained evacuated at this time.
