An evacuation alert has been issued in Alberta for Fort McMurray as an out-of-control wildfire burns nearby. A wildfire designated MWF017 by the Alberta Wildfire Service is seen burning near Ft. McMurray, Alta., in a May 10, 2024, handout photo.HO/The Canadian Press
An out-of-control wildfire burning south of Fort McMurray, Alta., grew significantly in size Saturday, as an evacuation alert remained in place and residents were getting ready to leave their homes on short notice.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo issued an evacuation alert Friday night, saying the fire was about 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray and nearby Saprae Creek, but there was “no immediate risk to these communities,” home to more than 68,000 people.
An overnight temperature drop slowed the fire progress, and favourable winds blew the smoke away from the towns, the municipality said, but strong winds Saturday were expected to increase fire activity.
Alberta Wildfire information officer Melissa Story said the fire, currently about 1,500 hectares in size – up from 1,000 hectares Friday night – started Thursday afternoon. “We saw some pretty extreme fire behaviour here in the province yesterday with windy conditions, so the wildfire did grow pretty significantly,” she said in an interview Saturday.
Four wildland firefighter crews, three helicopters and an unspecified number of airtankers were at work on the fire Friday, with more support expected Saturday, she said.
More than 88,000 people were evacuated from Fort McMurray in May 2016, when a wildfire destroyed more than 2,400 buildings and caused an estimated $3.8-billion in insured damage. No one died as a direct result of the fire.
Ms. Story said the current fire is headed in the same general direction as the 2016 fire, so it is likely to lose intensity as the younger growth provides less fuel closer to town. “There’s been a lot of tree pruning and a lot of fire guards that have been put in place to help protect the community better than it was in 2016,″ she added.
Rochelle Yurko, a Fort McMurray resident, said in a text message Saturday that “it’s smokey windy and hot” in town. Ms. Yurko said she packed her bags and filled up her truck with gas in preparation for potential evacuation.
Another evacuation order was issued Friday evening for part of the County of Grande Prairie, in northwestern Alberta, because of an out-of-control wildfire near Teepee Creek. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were affected by the order.
Josh Bourget, a resident of Sexsmith, in Grande Prairie, was not affected by the evacuation order but he started to prepare bags and important documents Saturday in case the fire situation escalated, and he needed to leave on short notice.
For now, Mr. Bourget and his three children are staying indoors because of the thick smoke outside.
“Right now, we’re just having a cozy day of snacks and cartoons,” he said in a phone interview.
Wildfire smoke caused poor air quality and reduced visibility in large swaths of northeastern B.C., Alberta, and central Saskatchewan Saturday, according to Environment Canada.
In B.C., the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality issued an evacuation order affecting Fort Nelson and the Fort Nelson First Nation Friday night. Residents of these communities, home to about 3,000 people, were told to go to Fort St. John, a four-hour drive southeast.
“This wildfire is a threat to life and safety. Impacted residents must evacuate now,” the order said. The wildfire near Highway 97, just northwest of Parker Lake, measured 800 hectares, the BC Wildfire Service said in an update. Later Saturday, the blaze had more than doubled, reaching almost 1,700 hectares in size, with BC Wildfire Service maps showing the fire burning just a few kilometres west of Fort Nelson’s city limits.
In a joint statement, the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nation said that people staying behind despite the evacuation orders should be aware that “emergency medical services are not available, nor are groceries or other amenities.”
“Utilities may become impacted to support fire response efforts,” the statement said. “Communication networks are precarious, which could impact the ability to reach residents to advise of changing conditions.”
Northern Health said in a release that Fort Nelson General Hospital has been safely evacuated and is closed until further notice.
Rob Fraser, the mayor of Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, said Saturday the fire was started when a tree blown down by strong winds fell onto a power line.
The regional municipality said fuel stations were set up along the road to Fort St. John and urged drivers to take additional passengers with them, if they could.
B.C. Premier David Eby said on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that he was “thinking of people evacuated from Fort Nelson and Fort Nelson First Nation as wildfire activity grows close to their communities.”
“BC Wildfire Service is responding, and we will be working around the clock to support people,” he said.
The Yukon government said late Friday that the wildfire near Fort Nelson had caused a 911 and telecommunications outage in the territory affecting the internet, land lines and cellphones. It said a geomagnetic storm was potentially affecting satellite phones as well.
Residents needing to report an emergency were told to go to the nearest RCMP station or detachment, health centre or hospital.
According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), there were 120 active wildfires throughout the country Saturday morning, including 33 that were out of control. Most of them were in B.C. and Alberta.
More than 26,000 hectares have burned in Canada so far this year, the CIFFC says.
With reports from The Canadian Press