Residents west of Edmonton under evacuation orders due to out-of-control wildfire
Residents near Barrhead, Westlock allowed to return after evacuation order lifted
Residents of several communities west of Edmonton have been ordered to evacuate their homes due to an encroaching and out-of-control wildfire.
RCMP say due to high winds, a fire in Parkland County is quickly heading west toward the hamlets of Entwistle and Evansburg, two communities about 100 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Both Parkland County and the neighbouring Yellowhead County have declared a state of local emergency.
Derrick Forsythe, information officer with Alberta Wildfire, said there are technically two fires burning in the area. As of 10 a.m., one of them was 330 hectares and the other was 3,000 hectares.
"With conditions so dry, people should take heed of the notices being sent from the municipality for evacuations to get out of harm's way," he told CBC on Sunday.
Forsythe said as of 5:30 p.m., there were 40 active wildfires in Alberta. Twelve were new within the last 24 hours.
Brian Cornforth, Parkland County fire chief and incident commander on this wildfire, said it's been a challenging fight so far, mostly because of wind and low relative humidity.
"We had large fire growth yesterday … We're just working the flanks of this fire to try and narrow it down," he told CBC on Sunday.
Cornforth said at least one home has been destroyed, as well as some outbuildings. Most people have been evacuated and firefighters are working with RCMP to ensure the safety of everyone.
The cause right now is unknown, Cornforth said.
"Our focus right now is for obviously life and property protection. We'll focus on that and then we'll do a cause and determination later on."
Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams also stressed the focus on safety and property protection in an interview Sunday evening.
He estimates about 1,200 people have been evacuated from Yellowhead County. He said about 45 people from the county are working on crews helping to battle the flames, plus some assisting personnel on bulldozers and excavators.
Williams said the county was prepared but "every fire is different." He urged residents to be vigilant to ensure no more fires are started.
"It's tinder dry clear across the county," he said. "If everybody can just be careful, it would really help things out."
Evacuation orders
Alberta Emergency Alert said Parkland County ordered everyone west of Range Road 65, north of Township Road 530 to Township Road 534, including all residents of Entwistle, to evacuate immediately.
A second emergency alert ordered all residents of the hamlet of Evansburg and those in the area directly south of the hamlet in Yellowhead County to evacuate their properties immediately.
Just before 3 a.m. local time, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency issued a third emergency alert for Yellowhead County. The mandatory evacuation order expanded just before 5 p.m. for all residents in the Lobstick Resort and the area north of Wildwood:
- From the east end of Chip Lake east along Township Road 542 to range Road 75
- North along Range Road 75 to Township Road 550
- West along Township Road 550 to Range Road 80
- North up Range Road 80 to Township Road 554
- West along Township Road 554 to Range Road 103
- South along Range Road 103 to Chip Lake
- And following Chip Lake shoreline back to Township Road 542
The critical alerts advised people to collect important documents, medications, and enough food and water to be away for at least three days.
According to Parkland County, reception centres for evacuees in that county are Wildwood Community Hall and Wabamun Jubilee Hall.
Mark Cacka was out at a birthday party with his family when he got a call from neighbours notifying him of the threat to their home just south of Entwistle.
"We were able to scrounge up some stuff from the house," he said. The family is currently staying in a camper trailer parked at a friend's place near Wildwood.
Cacka said it has been an emotional journey but that he's had support from members of the community.
"When we were grabbing our stuff, we probably had no less than a dozen people reach out to us saying, 'What can we do to help?'"
Wildfire activity northwest of Edmonton also led to evacuation orders on Sunday.
At about 2 p.m. local time, Barrhead and Westlock RCMP issued a news release indicating people who reside between Township Road 592 and 594 and Range Road 15 and 24 must evacuate.
At around 5:30 p.m., an update said residents who were evacuated were able to return to their homes.
However, the area near Range Road 14/15 remains impassable as it is being used as a staging area for police and firefighters, RCMP said in a statement. The closures are expected to remain in place for at least one day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Julia Wong, Emily Fitzpatrick and The Canadian Press