On Sunday evening, Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara told Global News he is “confident” residents will be allowed to return home as soon as Monday unless there is a significant change in weather.
The town announced the evacuation order would be lifted 8 a.m. Monday.
“It’s a very large fire but the rain has really helped and the humidity and the cooler temperatures,” he said.
“It’s given time for crews to better protect the community. We have a lot of apparatus in town ready to respond to any emergency. We feel it’s safe to reenter and get people home.”
Multiple massive wildfires burning west of Edmonton forced thousands of people to flee their homes Friday.
The town of Edson and a large swath of Yellowhead County was put under an evacuation order shortly after 5:30 p.m.
“You need to evacuate immediately,” the county said in an emergency alert. “Evacuation route is west to Hinton or Jasper.”
As of Sunday morning, the largest fires were collectively burning more than 934 square kilometres of land – an area larger than the city of Edmonton.
“The wildfires in the Edson Forest area are very large and are producing heavy amounts of smoke,” said an update on the Alberta Wildfire website.
Zahara said Sunday night there’s been no damage to the town.
“We’re very fortunate the winds changed. It was blowing directly towards the town of Edson just a few days ago. The wind shifted yesterday and crews have been working hard trying to stop that fire, putting breaks in and other methods. We’re very happy to see we’re in a much better situation today.”
The evacuation order is being lifted at 8 a.m. on Monday for Marlboro to the Chip Lake area, the town said in a Facebook post Sunday night.
“This includes the Town of Edson … Damage assessments are still ongoing for the east end of the county.
“The wildfire risk has been reduced thanks to firefighting efforts and the shift in weather. There is no longer an immediate risk,” the post reads.
However, the order is only being lifted for some areas in Yellowhead County at this time.
“Areas east of Range Road 110 (north of Chip Lake) and east of Range Road 101 (south of Chip Lake) and south of Township Road 560 are still under evacuation order and residents in this area are not returning at this time. If you live west of this area, you can return to your home.
“Both communities will be working with Alberta Wildfire and other agencies to ensure a safe return.”
Residents can call 1-833-334-4630 for more information.
While Edson experienced little to no damage from the wildfire, Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams noted some homes have been lost in the surrounding areas of Yellowhead County.
Williams said residents in Evansburg will not be allowed home Monday because power is still out due to damage to power poles.
“We had some moisture this morning which has really, really helped us out,” said Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams.
“A lot of the fires are still burning but they’ve significantly slowed down. The fire that is the south of Edson has significantly slowed down, which is going to allow Yellowhead County to start re-entry tomorrow from Marlborough to about the Chip Lake area.
“In the Wildwood and Evansburg area, we still have two active fires going,” Williams said. “There is still a lot of smoke in the area. It’s unsafe to open highways. So we have to get those fires under control.
“Over and above that, our power, water, gas and sewer are not functioning in either one of those hamlets… that’s going to take us some time to get that stuff back up,” Williams said.
The Town of Hinton said though it is not anticipating power outages Sunday as the fire is not progressing towards the Fortis substation south of Edson, the situation could change rapidly.
“We do ask evacuees and residents to continue to be prepared in the event of a power outage,” said town officials in a Facebook post.
“We are prepared to shelter evacuees here for 24 hours following any power outage. We have prepared meals — breakfast, lunch, and dinner — for all evacuees staying at the Recreation Centre and those billeting not staying at the Recreation Centre.”
Alberta Wildfire said the weather forecast is favourable for the next few days, with overcast conditions and a bit of rain, but the long-term forecast is predicting a return to hot and dry conditions.
“Because these wildfires have been so extremely hot and will have burned deep into the ground, these fires can re-ignite again even after several days of light rain, especially once these hot, dry and windy conditions return,” said Alberta Wildfire.
The Deep Creek wildfire burning on both sides of Highway 22 and north of Highway 16 did not grow overnight, according to Alberta Wildfire. It is about 2,400 hectares in size.
A wildfire that started south of Highway 16 and east of the Pembina River has now crossed both the highway and the river. It has grown to more than 8,500 hectares after increased activity overnight.
The largest fire is located 34 kilometres southeast of Edson and is almost 78,000 hectares in size.
Minnow Lake Provincial Recreation Area has been overrun by the wildfire, according to the agency.
“This fire still poses a significant threat to the town of Edson, and we strongly believe Hinton and the areas west of Hinton are the safest locations for residents that have been evacuated within Yellowhead County,” said Alberta Wildfire.
According to the Town of Edson website, the municipality has a population of more than 8,000 people.
Zahara said Friday afternoon’s evacuation order will impact up to 15,000 people in the area altogether. He urged people fleeing their homes to “do so calmly,” adding that many people have already been preparing for the possibility they may be told to leave the area.
“We’ll deal with this as we can,” Zahara said. “We’re resilient people … Just hope for some rain.”
“It’s just chaos,” said local resident Jesse Crowtager, who didn’t leave right away in attempts to save some homes and animals. “There’s 2,000 head of cattle here.”
Crowtager and another man drove water trucks around trying to spray the fire. He said he’s never seen anything like this before and isn’t even sure if he can access his home to pack up any belongings.
He had a few pieces of equipment out in the field that he assumed are now in the middle of the fire.
“There’s nothing you can do about it now,” he said.
Evacuees were asked to check municipal Facebook pages and websites for map and updates, or to call 1-833-334-4630 for assistance.
Derek Schlosser, deputy mayor of Whitecourt, said the town has an emergency plan in place and was ready Saturday morning to open up a centre for people seeking refuge from the fires.
He said there’s been a steady stream of people registering at the evacuation centre, mostly from Fox Creek, which received another evacuation notice late Saturday morning.
“A lot of people have family in the area, too, or friends, so they’re staying there. We’ve also had people in the community opening up their RV parks and shop areas in the industrial area for people to park and set up their trailers. All of the hotels have been very accommodating,” he said.
With all these efforts, Schlosser said they are prepared to take on hundreds, if not more, evacuees.
As of noon Saturday, there is a fire ban and off-highway vehicle restriction for the entire Forest Protection Area, including the Edson Forest Area.