Scene in Slave Lake described as horrific
Posted May 17, 2011 1:41 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Photos posted on the internet by residents in the Slave Lake area show a sky reddened with flames, buildings reduced to nothing more than rubble and smoke spanning as far as the eye can see.
City TV’s Sarah Offin visited Slave Lake Monday and describes what she saw.
“It was horiffic,” Offin tells 660News. “Just twisted steel and rubble, hot ash and flare-ups even while we were there. They were still trying to fight this blaze that the wind continues to try to fight against them.”
Offin says even grisled media veterans were shocked by the scene.
“It’s something that’s very difficult to digest,” she says. “It was a very surreal experience there yesterday, and talking to some of the other media and I think they feel the same way. Even veterans in the media business saying they’ve never seen anything like it.”
Over a third of the town is said to be destroyed, including the town hall, library, local radio station and government centre. Despite earlier reports, schools and the RCMP detachment remain standing, as does the local hospital.
(It’s) “still a very scary situation there right now,” adds Offin. “To the east, 20 square kilometres” (are) “still burning out of control. To the south, 150 square kilometres remain out of control, and hundreds of firefighters” (are) “being flown in from B.C. and Ontario as well.”
15000 hectares of land in the Slave Lake area are now burning out of control.
