May 23, 2015
GSH Assists with the Evacuation of Oil Sands Facilities
GSH and our Aboriginal Partners, the Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation were proud to provide emergency helicopter evacuation services over the weekend. Cenovus Energy evacuated their facilities within the Cold Lake Air Weapons range, close to Alberta’s eastern border, due to an out-of-control forest fire in the area. Several intermediate and twin engine aircraft were dispatched to assist with the swift repositioning of personnel.
Cenovus evacuated their facilities at Foster Creek because the fire threatened the only road out, which would have made any evacuation of the facility difficult. Rhona Delfrari, spokeswoman for the company, said there were approximately 1,800 staff on site last night before the evacuation started early Saturday morning. By the afternoon, only a handful of staff were left over to shut down the plant before being transported by helicopter.
“As far as we know right now, there is no threat from the fire to our facilities, it was more about the road being blocked off from the fire,” said Delfrari.
Proceeds from all flight operations in the southern gateway to Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo directly support Chipewyan Prairie Dene First Nation development initiatives
