Wildfire near Fort McMurray grows to 5,500 hectares but flames pushed south of city

Richelyn Fabian, a Fort McMurray, Alta. resident of 17 years, and her family are trying to live as normal as possible — even going to the park.

But she's ensured her four children have packed overnight bags and that dry goods and water are stocked at home.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is under an evacuation alert due to a wildfire burning 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray, in northwestern Alberta. Residents don't have to leave, but they must be ready to.

For Fabian, the situation conjures memories of the 2016 wildfire. That fire, dubbed 'The Beast', forced more than 90,000 people to evacuate the region and destroyed 2,400 homes and businesses. It is the second-most costly Canadian disaster on record, according to the federal disaster database.

"It sucks to be in this situation again," Fabian told CBC News on Saturday.

"This is Mother Nature. There's nothing, really, we can do so much. So just prepare and stay on alert."

Alberta Wildfire is reporting 50 total active wildfires as of 1 p.m. MT Sunday, including seven mutual aid fires. The mutual aid designation occurs when Alberta Wildfire is helping with firefighting but it is not the lead agency.

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued air quality statements for most of Alberta, mainly due to wildfire smoke emanating from northeastern B.C. Some areas are affected by local wildfires.

Two wildfires in Alberta are deemed out of control, including the one burning near Fort McMurray, which more than tripled in size overnight.

The fire is about 5,500 hectares, Alberta Wildfire estimated. On Saturday morning, it was about 1,500 hectares.

Fire officials witnessed extreme wind speeds and fire behaviour Saturday, but the flames were pushed to the southeast, away from the community, said Melissa Story, an Alberta Wildfire public information officer.

"Now, it's skipping the south portion of the city and heading in a southerly direction," Story said while on CBC Radio's Daybreak Alberta Sunday morning.

Although the fire grew significantly over 24 hours, Story said overnight firefighting was successful on the northeast portion of the wildfire.

Alberta Wildfire does not expect the fire to grow much on Sunday, as winds are forecast to slow down and shift northwesterly, pushing the flames onto the current burned area, Story said.