Page 27 - AEF-AlbertaBits_Summer-2025

Horse Keeping
Weather
the Storm
Prepare for extreme weather
before it happens
By Allison Stephen
THE CLEARWATER HORSE Club, a Wood Buffalo
institution since 1969, had no emergency plan
when the 2016 wildfire ignited approximately
10 kilometres west of the barns. Within hours,
Clearwater members began evacuating their horses
into Fort McMurray city limits, sheltering animals in
areas on the north side of town, some even in their
own backyards. It was, of course, a temporary reprieve.
A few days later, the Horse River wildfire, also known
as “The Beast,” jumped the Athabasca River, triggering
the largest evacuation this country has ever seen.
Club treasurer Cindy George vividly remembers
the chaos. She and her daughter were checking on
the horses at a location on Tower Road, north of the
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