Shifting winds threaten to fan the flames of Alberta wildfires
CBC
Once sleeping giants, Alberta's wildfires are threatening to show the full extent of their power.
High temperatures have been unrelenting in recent days and no rain is in the forecast.
While temperatures will ease somewhat in the week ahead, the changing forecast is expected to bring new dangers.
A shift in wind direction could lead to "unpredictable wildfire behaviour," wildfire information officer Christie Tucker told a news conference Monday.
As of Monday afternoon, 90 wildfires were burning in forest protection areas across the province, Tucker said, 23 of them out of control.
Thousands of people have been forced from their homes and Alberta's wildfire resources have been pushed to their limit.
The latest evacuation order came Monday afternoon for the 1,850 residents of Valleyview in northwestern Alberta.
The town is threatened by two out-of-control wildfires known together as the Sturgeon Lake Complex.
The fires are burning to the west and northwest of Valleyview and together have burned 5,000 hectares.
Residents of the town have been told to get out immediately and to travel south on Highway 43 to Whitecourt.
Tucker said winds are expected to shift from the southeast to the northwest with gusts of up to 50 kilometres per hour.
"Combined with the heat and dryness, this will cause dangerous conditions," she said.
"[Tuesday], strong northerly winds and gusts are expected to continue with little precipitation expected."
Tucker said the Sturgeon Lake Complex has seen "extreme wildfire behaviour," and that one of the fires has moved beyond its fireguard.