Alberta to hold wildfire update Thursday afternoon

As of Thursday morning, there were 61 wildfires in Alberta, including 15 out of control.

Alberta officials will give an update on the ongoing wildfire situation Thursday afternoon.

Watch the news conference live on CTVNewsEdmonton.ca at 3 p.m.

As of Thursday morning, there were 61 wildfires in Alberta, including 15 out of control.

A wildfire near Fort Chipewyan, Alta., has been the province's priority since it started on Sunday.

It grew to nearly 9,000 hectares on Wednesday and forced close to 1,000 area residents to flee the area by plane or boat.

"Things have been quite chaotic," Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

"We managed to get 800 people out of the community in the last two days."