The Alberta government issued an Emergency Alert Friday evening for residents near Fort McMurray and Saprae Creek due to an out-of-control wildfire.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) issued the evacuation alert at 6:38 p.m. MT on Friday.
The alert included Fort McMurray and Saprae Creek Estates.
The RMWB expanded the evacuation alert Saturday afternoon to include Anzac, Fort McMurray First Nation #468, Gregoire Lake Estates and Rickards Landing Industrial Park.
In a statement posted to its website, the RMWB said “It is anticipated that Highway 63 will be impacted later today which would result in a temporary closure. This closure would be south of the highway 63 and 881 junction. At this time, it is not believed that Highway 881 will be immediately impacted.”
The RMWB said access to Fort McMurray would not be impeded because Highway 881 is not expected to be impacted or closed.
Alberta Wildfire said as of 10 a.m. Saturday, the fire was 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray on the south side of the Athabasca River valley.
In an update posted to its website, the agency said “fire behaviour is expected to pick up this morning,” with winds increasing throughout the afternoon. The fire remained out of control and had grown to over 1,492 hectares in size.
“We saw some extreme wildfire behaviour on it yesterday. It grew pretty significantly under the windy conditions yesterday,” said Melissa Story, provincial information officer with Alberta Wildfire.
“Our crews are working with air tankers and helicopters in that area to try to get it under control,” Story continued. “We also had night operations on it last night, which proved to be quite successful so we’ve made some good progress on it.”
Five crews of wildland firefighters, nine helicopters and airtankers are expected to be working on the fire on Saturday.
Residents affected by the evacuation alert should be ready to evacuate on short notice.
This is not an evacuation order, but residents are also being reminded to keep essential items like medications, important documents, and emergency kits ready for quick departure.
At around 9 p.m. Thursday, Alberta Wildfire said it was responding to an out-of-control wildfire about 28 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray. At the time it was 12 hectares in size.
In an update just after 9:45 p.m., Alberta Wildfire said the blaze had grown to 34 hectares.
Crews, air tankers and a night-vision helicopter were working to build a fire guard around the wildfire and get it contained.
Alberta Wildfire said smoke was visible in the area Thursday night, but it was not affecting any communities.
In an update at 9 a.m. Friday, Alberta Wildfire said four crews of wildland firefighters, three helicopters and airtankers were working on the fire.
Alberta Wildfire posted another update at 4 p.m. on Friday stating the fire had grown to 200 hectares in size and remained out of control.
The update said the fire was located approximately 25 km southwest of Fort McMurray, on the south side of the Athabasca River valley. Alberta Wildfire said the flames were moving east, driven by strong winds, and is showing extreme fire behaviour.
The update said three night vision helicopters would be working on the wildfire overnight, due to a cold front moving through the region, which was expected to bring strong winds in the overnight hours.
Alberta Wildfire said the fire danger in the area remains extreme.
A fire restriction remains in effect for the Fort McMurray region.
The wildfire happened just hours after Alberta Wildfire officials provided an update on the province’s wildfire status Thursday morning. At that time, officials said there were no wildfires out of control in the province, but warned conditions could quickly change.
For the latest information on which areas in Alberta are under an evacuation alert or order due to a wildfire, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.
For the latest information on the wildfire status and danger across the province, visit the Alberta Wildfire website.
The latest information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.
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