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“Devastating” Wildfire at Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Destroys Visitor Centre
“Devastating” Wildfire at Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Destroys Visitor Centre
Michelle Pinon & Arthur Beaudette - News Advertiser
A wildfire broke out on April 18 at a property near the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in Lamont County.
Dispatch was called at approximately 2:30 p.m. and Lamont County Emergency Services deployed multiple stations to the site. Crews from Lamont, Chipman, Andrew and Bruderheim responded and additional support was requested from Strathcona County.
The fire quickly spread from the initial location into the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Crews focused attention on historic buildings but multiple buildings including administrative and operations buildings were impacted with significant damage including to the Visitor Centre.
At one point the fire jumped to the North side of Hwy 16 and alerts were sent out. Highway 15 was closed for approximately two hours with the provincial alert being cancelled after about 30 minutes. At that point the fire was considered contained and no residences were deemed at risk.
High winds created significant challenges, and prevented response from air support until the next day when Lamont County Emergency Services received assistance to address hotspots.
Crews were successful in preserving all historical buildings.
A joint statement provided by Tanya Fir, Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women, and Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk, MLA for Fort Saskatchewan Vegreville and Parliamentary Secretary for Settlement Services and Ukrainian Evacuees, was published the following day.
The statement read: "On the evening of April 18, a devastating fire broke out at a property near the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. While we are incredibly grateful to the first responders whose swift response saved the historical buildings on site, we are saddened to confirm that the Visitor Centre buildings were lost. These buildings included exhibit spaces and housed many irreplaceable artifacts that told the stories of generations of Ukrainian Albertans.
This is a profound loss—not only for the Ukrainian community, but for all Albertans who value and honour our province’s diverse cultural heritage.
To the community that holds this place close to heart, please know that we share in your grief, and we recognize the cultural importance of the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village to the Ukrainian Albertan community and all Albertans. We will provide more information as it becomes available in the coming weeks. Alberta’s government is committed to reopening the site when it is safe and appropriate to do so."
Lakeland MP Shannon Stubbs offered words of appreciation to first responders, shared some personal memories and encouraged others to share their stories in an April 19 Facebook Post which read in part: “On this Easter weekend, let's reflect on where we've come from, and pray for peace abroad and for all the people in the area who will no doubt be impacted in some way or another by the fire yesterday.
So many firefighting crews throughout rural Alberta are entirely volunteer or mixed crews, like the amazing folks from Lamont County who helped last night to contain the fire on Hwy 16 and fight it in the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Thank you to all the area first responders, and I'm grateful that the people and residences in the area are safe. It hurts my heart to think about the damage and all the families whose ancestors and original homesteads are in the incredible gem that is the Ukrainian Village. Lamont County, where I grew up, is known as the Cradle of Ukrainian Settlement in Canada. Like my husband's Ukrainian family, many families have been here since before Alberta was even a province officially, and the Ukrainian Village honours and celebrates all the people who built most of the communities in Lamont County and surrounding areas from the ground up.
While we all hold the families and people represented by and involved in the Ukrainian Village in our hearts, and await more details of the fire... please share your connections, memories, photos, visits and stories of the Ukrainian Village so we can share the load, comfort and support each other, just like the people and communities did for all those hard, transformative years.”
The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village open air museum has been a cultural destination since the mid-70’s and is owned by the Province of Alberta. It has more than 40 historical buildings on-site.
As of publishing, the incident is still under investigation, including official cause.
The News Advertiser would like to thank Jay Zaal, Communications Coordinator at Lamont County and David Makowsky, Director, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village Branch for their availability and prompt responses to our inquiries.
