Out-of-control wildfires force northern, central Alberta residents from their homes
CBC
A large out-of-control wildfire in northern Alberta has forced thousands of people to flee their homes.
According to an update from Alberta Wildfire on Thursday afternoon, the wildfire in Fox Lake covers about 4,400 hectares.
In a video posted to Facebook on Thursday, Little Red River Cree Nation Chief Conroy Sewepagaham said about 3,700 residents have evacuated the community.
In another video posted later Thursday, Sewepagaham said the fire has "grown significantly and continues to move westward."
At a video update just after 8 p.m., Sewepagaham said as far as he can tell, all residents have been evacuated from the community but "unfortunately we are losing homes left and right and centre."
A 6 p.m. update from Alberta Wildfire states that 20 households in the community, the police station and the Northern Store have been lost due to fire.
According to an update posted by the Little Red River Cree Nation's Facebook page, on Friday there will be approximately 34 Alberta Wildfire firefighters, four helicopters, two heavy helicopters, heavy equipment and airtankers battling the wildfire.
Little Red River Cree Nation is made up of three Woodland Cree communities: Fox Lake, Garden River and John D'Or Prairie. The majority of the population lives in Fox Lake — east of High Level, about 600 kilometres north of Edmonton.
In High Level, town officials said in a news release they are preparing to host about 1,800 evacuees.
"As a primary destination for Albertans across Northwest Alberta, the Town of High Level and its residents are proud to continue to support our neighbours during their time of need," said Mayor Crystal McAteer. "Unfortunately, we've seen these types of emergency situations occur more regularly over the past few years. We recognize how stressful it can be for those that need to leave their homes behind to head to safety.
"We hope to be their safe haven and always work to make evacuees as comfortable as possible."
According to Alberta Wildfire, there are 76 active wildfires in the province.
Hundreds of Albertans are on evacuation order due to wildfires burning throughout central Alberta.
A wildfire alert was issued for residents in Leduc County, south of Edmonton, near the village of Warburg.