Officials urge Albertans to make evacuation plans as fire activity intensifies
CTV
Officials said hot, dry weather will continue to intensify wildfire activity over the weekend and they're asking Albertans to stay vigilant and be ready in case of an evacuation.
The number of active wildfires in Alberta had increased from Friday's 74 to 86 Saturday afternoon, and the number of out-of-control fires remained at 23.
Officials said hot, dry weather will continue to intensify wildfire activity over the weekend and they're asking Albertans to stay vigilant and be ready in case of an evacuation.
"We're seeing widespread cross-over conditions, which means that the temperature is higher than the relative humidity. These conditions lead to extreme fire behaviour and will challenge our firefighters on the ground. New wildfires can ignite easily and spread quickly," said Josee St-Onge, Alberta Wildfire information officer.
More than 1,500 wildland firefighters are working on fighting the fires, and another 200 firefighters are arriving soon from the U.S., St-Onge said.
So far this year, more than 443 wildfires have burned 470,000 hectares.
The wildfires have prompted 19 local states of emergency and four Band Council resolutions.
The province added one more evacuation order Saturday afternoon during the government update, when Leduc County issued an emergency alert due to a wildfire west of Devon, making the total 11.
