The Canadian Press
Sat, May 11, 2024
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — An evacuation alert was issued in Alberta for Fort McMurray on Friday evening as an out-of-control wildfire burned nearby.
Residents in the northern oilsands hub and the nearby community of Saprae Creek were told to be ready to leave on short notice.
Jody Butz, regional fire chief and director of emergency management for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said in a video update posted on Facebook late Friday that the two communities were not at risk and winds were pushing the wildfire away from Fort McMurray, he said.
Officials said the fire was 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray as of 9 p.m. local time.
Alberta Wildfire said in the late afternoon that the wildfire was about two square kilometres in size, but by early evening that had grown to 10 square kilometres.
Butz said in the video update that fire behaviour had dropped with lower temperatures, and the spread was expected to slow as temperatures dropped further overnight.
"We expect things to look better tomorrow morning," he said.
Alberta Wildfire said four crews of wildland firefighters, three helicopters and airtankers were fighting the fire, to be joined by night-vision helicopters overnight.
Fort McMurray has a population of about 68,000. A wildfire there in 2016 destroyed roughly 2,400 homes.
Later Friday, the County of Grande Prairie issued an evacuation order for an area roughly 50 kilometres northeast of the city of the same name.
Alberta Wildfire estimated an out-of-control blaze there to be about 0.4 square kilometres in size. It said the the fire was about four kilometres east of the hamlet of Teepee Creek and burning away from the community.
Evacuees were told to register at the Pomeroy Hotel and Conference Centre in the city of Grande Prairie.
Just after midnight on Saturday, an evacuation order was also issued in the MD of Greenview Number 16, northeast of Grande Prairie.
The wildfire is burning north of Highway 43 and has jumped the Smokey River.
Everyone living in the North Goodwin area west of Range Road 21 and between Township Roads 741 and 734 is required to evacuate.
A evacuation centre has been set up in Valleyview, a town about an hour east of Grande Prairie.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press
Thousands in Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate as wildfire threatens town
The Canadian Press
Fri, May 10, 2024
FORT NELSON, B.C. — Thousands of people in northeast British Columbia were ordered to evacuate and flee south late Friday as a fast-growing wildfire neared the town of Fort Nelson.
The evacuation order was issued by the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Fort Nelson First Nations around 7:15 p.m., with residents being told to flee to Fort St. John, 380 kilometres away.
The communities were being threatened by an out-of-control wildfire that the municipality said was about 12 kilometres west of Fort Nelson, after it exploded in size late Friday.
Fort Nelson and the Fort Nelson Indian Reserve, in the far northeast corner of B.C. about 1,600 kilometres from Vancouver, have a combined population of about 3,000.
The B.C. Wildfire Service said the blaze measured eight square kilometres in size and was "highly visible" from the town, as groundcrews and nine bucketing helicopters battled to control it.
The service said that in addition to wildfire service firefighters, members of the local fire department and the RCMP were responding, and air tanker support had been assigned.
The municipality said the fire posed an "immediate threat to life, health and property."
"Residents are advised to evacuate the area immediately and begin driving south towards Fort St. John," it said.
"If you have a recreational vehicle, or your own vehicle, fuel stations are being planned along the route south."
The municipality said drivers should bring any additional passengers they could.
The fire grew rapidly late Friday. The wildfire service had said in a social media post at 5:25 p.m. that the suspected human-caused fire was half a square kilometre in size, but by 6:30 p.m. it was listed on the service's website as measuring four square kilometres, before that doubled again.
Less than two hours before the full evacuation was ordered, the municipality had been ordering residents in neighbourhoods west of the town to muster in the community's recreation centre.
That plan was swiftly overwhelmed.
The fire was fanned by a dry cold front that the wildfire service said had been expected to cross the Fort Nelson zone mid-afternoon Friday.
"While no lightning is expected during this time, wind gusts may exceed 70 kilometres per hour and shift direction rapidly," the service had said on Thursday.
It said the conditions were "likely to contribute to continued new growth on holdover fires from the 2023 season," but the blaze threatening Fort Nelson is a new fire, detected on Friday.
"The top priorities of the BC Wildfire Service are life, health and safety of responders and public. The Prince George Fire Centre is actively working with municipal partners, industry and other government ministries to ensure these priorities are achieved," it said.
The service said an incident management team would assume command in the fire zone.
DriveBC said the Alaska Highway, also known as Highway 97, had been shut due to the fire.
B.C. Premier David Eby said on social media platform X 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 internet, landlines 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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.
The Canadian Press
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