City advises residents not to call 9-1-1 unless they see flames

August 20, 2010

(Red Deer, Alberta) – The City of Red Deer is advising residents the thick smoke blanketing the city is from forest fires in British Columbia, and not from fires burning locally.

“There have been a number of phone calls to 9-1-1 from residents stating they are seeing smoke and reporting it as a local fire, particularly in low-lying areas,” said Emergency Services Communications Lieutenant David Harvey. “However I encourage residents to only call 9-1-1 if they can actually see flames, or the source of the fire. Red Deer is covered in a haze of smoke right now but it’s coming from the fires burning in B.C. “

Emergency Services continues to receive calls reporting sightings of smoke and it is tying up emergency personnel response resources and making them unavailable for true emergencies. The City is reminding residents the problem is wide-spread as winds have pushed smoke from growing fires in B.C. across all of central Alberta.

For more information on the health advisory issued by Alberta Health Services please go to http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/2406.asp.

Any residents who want more information on respiratory issues related to the health advisory can contact Health Link Alberta to speak to a registered nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week, toll-free at 1-866-408-LINK (5465).

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For more information, please contact:

Jack MacDonald
Fire Chief
The City of Red Deer
403-346-5511