Visit our online events calendar to stay  up-to-date on everything that's going on  around town! Click the image to view events

Every four years, the Town of High River's Emergency Management Division holds a large-scale practice emergency exercise to provide training opportunities for staff and generate community awareness for residents.

The 2017 exercise will be held on Thursday, September 28 and Friday, September 29 and will be based on the scenario that a tornado has touched down in High River running west to east just south of 12 Avenue.

"The first day will involve a mock mass-casualty incident at Highwood High School," says Carly Benson, emergency management coordinator with the Town. "It will involve a regional response from five different fire departments, RCMP and EMS that will require real equipment and sirens. Several volunteers have offered to play the victims to enhance the realism for our first responders."

On the second day, crews will be present in the Montrose area in order to perform rapid damage assessments based on the scenario from the preceding day.

"Volunteers will drop off information to the residents in Montrose so that they are aware of the exercise in advance and they know there's no need to be alarmed when they see crews in their area," adds Benson. "We have also connected with a number of homeowners in the area to secure their permission for us to leave example assessment packages on or near their properties for crews to find and use in the exercise."

Benson adds that the crew assessments are based on photos and information found in the packages and they will not actually need to access any properties during the exercise.
The second day will also have participants in the Emergency Operations Centre providing support to field teams, planning for transition to recovery, and managing media requests, mirroring their roles during a real emergency.

The exercise will also involve the use of an unmanned aerial vehicle that will take photos of the tornado's path and feed them back to exercise participants in the Emergency Operations Centre. The drone will be operated by a licensed pilot and will always be in eyesight of the operator.

"The goal of the exercise is to provide continuous and realistic training to Town staff, resulting in increased knowledge and confidence during a real emergency," says Benson. "It also serves as an opportunity to remind residents and public at large that High River is Ready and we are experts in emergency preparedness."

The exercise will include participation from a variety of agencies including the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, ATCO Gas, Foothills School Division, Foothills Search and Rescue, Foothills Community Immigrant Services, and Alberta Health Services.

Returning Officer Kara Rusk will be accepting nominations for Mayor and Council on September 18 at the High River Municipal Office from 9 a.m. until noon. The final list of nominees will be posted on the Town's website at www.highriver.ca 

Potential candidates of the High River Municipal Election that will be held on October 16 can pick up an information package at the High River Municipal Office located at 309B Macleod Trail S.W. between the hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday, or download it from the Town's website.

Following the October 16 election, Mayor and Council will be sworn in at the annual organizational meeting on October 23 for a four-year term ending in October, 2021.

More information will be posted on the Town's website www.highriver.ca under the Government menu. Please visit the page frequently for updates. 

• September 18, 2017 - Nomination Day
• October 8, 2017 - Advance Vote
• October 16, 2017 - Election Day
• October 23, 2017- Organizational Meeting/New Council to be sworn in

The park and playground located at the corner of 8 Avenue and 3 Street S.E. has now reopened to the public. The old water tower was successfully removed throughout the summer and new sod has been laid.

The Kinette Club of High River continues to seek funding and rally the community for the redevelopment of this public space.

As a next step the Town of High River, with assistance from the Kinette Club of High River, will be engaging in public consultation in the fall. Watch for more information in the coming weeks.

The Town of High River is hosting the 8th Annual Memorial Tree ceremony in George Lane Park on Wednesday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. to recognize donors that purchased trees over the past year.

"The Town's memorial tree program is a great way to celebrate a milestone or special moment by creating a lasting legacy in one of our parks," said Darlene Donovan, urban forester with the Town. "It's also good for the environment and helps us expand our urban forest throughout High River."

The ceremony is open to the public and will include information about donor plaques purchased to commemorate loved ones and the locations of new trees added to the park in 2017.

A variety of evergreen and deciduous trees can be purchased each year including Siberian Larch, Ponderosa Pine, Colorado Spruce, Northwestern Poplar, Bur Oak, American Elm and Ohio Buckeye.

Residents can provide their preference on which park the tree is planted in either George Lane Park or Riverside Park. Memorial Trees cost $500 per tree and includes planting, plaque and maintenance.

The Town also offers a Memorial Bench program where residents can purchase a commemorative bench and request a park location. The $1,200 purchase price includes the six foot bench and plaque.

For more information, or to purchase a Memorial Tree or Bench, please call 403-603-3503. To ensure trees are ready to be planted each spring, orders must be received by January 1 each year.

There is NO current fire ban within the Town of High River but the public is reminded to exercise caution if they choose to use their backyard fire pits or other burning appliances while this dry spell continues.

For a list of Fire Bans within Alberta Parks
please call 1-866-FYI-FIRE.
To report a WILDFIRE call 310-FIRE.

For detailed fire ban information go to www.albertafirebans.ca 

The High River Fire Department has done an assessment and has determined that the town is at a low risk, as all outdoor fires are restricted to private property in approved enclosed fire pits. Additionally, many residents continue to water their lawns which contributes to lowering the risk of fire.

The fire bylaw states that an outdoor fire set for the purposes of cooking or obtaining warmth is permitted within Town limits if it is:

a) Contained in a pit with a non-combustible bottom
- the fire pit has a ring of cement or steel that is a minimum of 30cm high
- the fire pit is located at least three (3) meters from any structure
- covered with a 3mm wire mesh

b) The fire and fire pit are clear from flammable fuels, including but not limited to:
- grass, trees and bushes

c) There are no obstructions or flammable fuels for:
- at least one and one-half (1.5) meters horizontally and from the edge of the rim and;
- two and one-half (2.5) meters vertically from the edge of the rim.

Without the above conditions being met there is no authority to have an outdoor cooking or warming fire. More information can be found at www.highriver.ca/fire-department/