Yellowhead County declares state of local emergency as wildfire rages

Yellowhead County has declared a state of local emergency as the wildfire that broke out Saturday continues to burn into Sunday.

The mandatory evacuation notice was extended just before 3 a.m. Sunday and includes Evansburg and the surrounding area, several residents northeast of Peers, north of Wildwood, and the Lobstick subdivision. Nearly 800 people have been evacuated, according to Yellowhead County.

The Yellowhead County fire, as well as the Parkland County fire on the other side of the river, broke out Saturday afternoon and have grown rapidly due to warm weather conditions and strong winds.

“We talk about this stuff on a regular basis, we practise this, we hope it never happens, but we’re realistic enough to know that these things will happen at some point in our community,” said Wade Williams, mayor of Yellowhead County.

“It is very critical to be ready, and I feel that Yellowhead County is 100 per cent ready and handled this to this point very, very well.”

Edson RCMP said Sunday that there have been no injuries.

Roughly 20 evacuated residents stayed at the Wildwood evacuation centre Saturday night, and those needing a place to stay are welcome, said Yellowhead County.

2:17 Wildfires grow in both Parkland and Yellowhead counties

Susan Cameron, a resident of Evansburg, stayed at the Wildwood evacuation centre, arriving at 5 a.m. Cameron and her sister both evacuated with their dogs and cats.

She said the smoke smell was strong when she woke up at 7 a.m. but things are looking better as the day goes on.

“The odds are good,” said Cameron of going home, though she added she was still waiting to receive an update from officials who originally told her she would be displaced for three days.

This is the first time Cameron has been evacuated from her home.

“It feels horrible because you don’t know if you’re going to get burned out,” she said.

Yellowhead County has had over 45 firefighters at the scene for the fire control and evacuation efforts and said it is working with Alberta Wildfire firefighters.

The mandatory evacuation notice for Parkland County remains in effect for residents between Range Road 65 to the Pembina River, north of Township Road 530 to Highway 16, including all residents of Entwistle.

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As of 11 a.m., the wildfire in Parkland County is roughly 200 hectares.

As of Sunday afternoon, the fire is about two kilometres from Entwistle and Highway 16 and is not in control, said Brian Cornforth, fire chief of Parkland County and instant commander for this fire, on Sunday afternoon. It is likely the fire won’t be out for days, if not weeks, he added.

One rural home outside of Trestle Creek in Entwistle was consumed by the fire Saturday afternoon.

There are three helicopters targeting hot spots, the air tanker group from Alberta Forests Protection Group is on site to help reduce the fire by flanking it on the sides, Cornforth explained. There are also over 40 ground firefighters and a structural protection agency, which helps with structural protection strategy. Teams are currently setting up structural protection in Entwistle in case the fire does move in that direction, he said.

“It’s not behaving, but it’s not progressing as much as we thought it might today with the high winds and temperatures,” he said.

He said they still don’t know the cause of the fire as the focus now is prevention and mitigation.

Highway 16 remains closed, as does Highway 22 south of 16 to Township Road 530.

There are evacuation reception centres set up at the Wildwood Community Hall and Wadbumun Jubilee Hall.