Achi news desk-
Pembina River Tubing manager Cheryl Harris vividly remembers the day her business near Evansburg and Entwistle burned to the ground.
Through a security camera feed, he watched as the Range Road 70 wildfire tore through Parkland County on May 5, 2023, destroying the popular summer resort 106 kilometers west of Edmonton.
Security camera footage of fireworks at Pembina River Tubing in Parkland County on May 5, 2023.
Credit: Pembina River Tubing via Facebook
“It was actually our wedding anniversary when the fireworks came through and took out our business,” he told 630 CHED’s This morning with Stacey Brotzel and Daryl McIntyre on Thursday.
“It was pretty scary.”
Breaking news from Canada and around the world sent to your email, as it happens.
The business is a popular summer attraction.
Those who want to float the Pembina River launch from the property and float for several hours downriver until they reach Pembina State Park, where buses take customers back to the river tubing company’s parking lot.
However, the wildfires last spring made it impossible in 2023.
According to a November 2023 investigation by Henricks and Associates Ltd., a company that determines the origin and cause of wildfires, a resident reported a wildfire burning near Trestle Creek Golf Resort on April 29, 2023.
It was determined that the cause of the fire, which burned an area of ​​approximately 6,284 hectares, was the suspension of a pile of burning debris.
Just over a year since that fateful day last May, Pembina River Tubing has officially reopened.
Although the temperature isn’t exactly swimsuit weather, some customers have already braved the cold waters.
Harris said tree trimming saves some things like changing rooms, bathrooms, a parking booth and a solar shed. The rest was destroyed, he said, including the area where tubes and life jackets were stored.
It was a challenge to get the business up and running for this season, he said.
“We used the same company we used before for the tubing because the tubing was high quality tubing that will last,” Harris said of the river that can be rocky and shallow in areas, piercing tubes and floats made of smaller. solid materials.
“But when it came to the life jackets, it was a bit more of a challenge because the prices of everything had gone up so high.”
The company eventually found a supplier, but there are fewer tubes. Before the fire, Pembina River Tubing owned more than 700 tubes – this year, only 240 are available.
Harris said she is looking forward to completely rebuilding and rising from the ashes.
Due to technical issues with the company’s website, reservations are only taken two weeks in advance by phone.
There are no doubts yet, Harris said. She suspects that people are waiting for better weather conditions before ordering.
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
