Wildfire evacuation alert issued as temperatures soar in Alberta

July 8, 2024 Canuck

Little Red River Cree Nation issued a wildfire alert on Monday afternoon for residents of the Garden River area.

Residents are being asked to prepare for a possible evacuation, including fueling vehicles, gathering important medication, and packing food and water.

According to the alert, a 12-hour evacuation notice will be given.

A wildfire is burning out of control 10 kilometres north of Highway 58.

The fire is part of the Semo complex.

Alberta Wildfire says additional resources have been requested and will arrive in the coming days to help the 113 firefighters and support staff already there.

On Sunday and Monday, helicopters bucketed the north side to help the effort to secure the west side of the blaze and heavy equipment operators were working to improve access from the southwest.

Ground firefighters will join the effort when safe zones are created, Alberta Wildfire says.

Fire near Firebag oilsands site

A wildfire burning northeast of Suncor’s Firebag oilsands site is growing but not significantly closer to the infrastructure, according to Alberta Wildfire.

MWF047 was about 13,000 hectares big as of Monday morning.

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Eight kilometres northeast of the Suncor site, and 70 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray, it is the largest and only out-of-control blaze in a group of fires the province is responding to jointly.

More than 200 people are working in the area. Twenty helicopters are assigned there, as well as three dozen heavy equipment teams.

On Monday, crews will be maintaining and building containment lines on the west and south sides of MWF047, where wildfire activity has been growing more aggressive.

Temperatures ‘challenging’

In total, there are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta’s protected forests, 13 of which are out of control and 20 are being held.

All of the out-of-control fires are burning in the Fort McMurray and High Level forest areas.

The hotter weather is already beginning to lead to more intense fire activity, Alberta Wildfire said.

“Today is expected to be a challenging day for crews as temperatures are on the rise and hotter temperatures are expected over the next few days,” the agency said Monday morning about the firefight north of Fort McMurray.

Wildfire smoke is most severely decreasing air quality in the far northeast. Edmonton’s air quality rating Monday morning was five and forecasted to drop to four by Tuesday morning.

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