Wildfires are burning nearly 1 million acres in Western Canada
A shift in weather conditions brought much-needed relief to firefighters in Western Canada, where about 964,000 acres have burned since wildfires began more than a week ago, destroying dozens of buildings and forcing nearly 30,000 Alberta residents to evacuate.
Cooler temperatures and light, scattered showers enabled firefighters to reach wildfires over the weekend that they had been unable to access “because of extreme wildfire behavior,” Christie Tucker, an information officer with Alberta Wildfire, a fire agency, said at a news conference Sunday.
Officials expect the weather to continue to work in their favor in the coming days, with cooler temperatures in the forecast and higher humidity in southern and central Alberta. But in the North, firefighters will “continue to be challenged” with dry conditions, Ms Tucker said.
“People are definitely calling this season unprecedented in recent history because we have so many fires that are so spread out,” Ms Tucker said. “It’s been a special year.”
Alberta declared a state of emergency on Saturday as more than 110 wildfires raged in the province. That number had decreased, but only slightly, by Monday afternoon, when they were there 98 active wildfires in the province. Parts of Yellowhead, Big Lakes, and Lac Ste. Anne Counties were Monday still under evacuation order.
Ms Tucker said firefighters arrived in Alberta on Sunday from Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia to help fight the wildfires. Firefighters in Alberta are prioritizing endangered communities and the threat of loss of life, she said, including the fires at Edson, Grizzly Complex, Deep Creek Complex and Fox Lake.
Residents forced to evacuate will be eligible for financial aid beginning Tuesday, Alberta premier Danielle Smith said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Each adult evacuated and displaced for seven consecutive days will receive $1,250, plus $500 for each person under age 18.
About 5,000 people have gone through evacuation centers, Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said at the news conference on Sunday. While some are starting to return home, others will have to keep waiting.
Nearly 300 patients and long-term care residents were evacuated from Alberta Health Services sites as of Monday morning, Ms Smith said.
More than 50 schools were closed as of Monday morning, affecting more than 10,000 students, said Mike Ellis, Alberta’s minister of public safety and emergency services.
Mr Ellis urged all Albertans to be ready in case they need to evacuate, whether they were in immediate danger or not.
Darryel Sowan, a spokesperson for the Little Red River Cree Nation, said Monday that more than 3,700 people evacuated over the weekend from the Fox Lake community – the most isolated area in the Little Red River area, but also where a majority of the population lives. No one was injured, but the community lost at least 44 buildings, Mr Sowan said.
For many of the nation, it was the first time they had left Fox Lake in their lives, Mr. Sowan said.
“They want to go home,” he said, but “because of the ongoing situation on the ground, they won’t be allowed in there until it’s under control.”
Mr. Sowan was in John D’Or Prairie, west of the country’s three communities, where some members had been evacuated to a gymnasium and slept on mats on the floor.
“They’re doing their best,” he said, noticing the smoke in the air. “It’s heartbreaking for the whole community.”
Evacuation orders were also issued for parts of British Columbia in the Peace River Regional District over the weekend. The order was reduced to a warning on Sunday night.
“The wildfire situation remains volatile and it is critical to stay out of evacuated areas to avoid endangering lives or disrupting firefighting efforts,” Peace River Regional District Chairman Leonard Hiebert said in a statement on Tuesday. Sunday night.
Kevin Zahara, the mayor of Edson, a city in Yellowhead County, said “a steady stream” of evacuees began returning home Monday morning under clear skies and a faint plume of smoke. About 8,400 people had evacuated the city, of the 14,000 residents who left the county under threat of fire.
“It looks good, the weather is cooperating,” he said. “It’s definitely positive and we look forward to getting back to normal and getting past this emergency.”
Mr Zahara said there was no damage to the city itself, but there was structural damage, including the loss of a natural gas plant, on the east side of the county and outside the city limits. The wildfires have also forced some of Alberta’s largest oil producers to temporarily shut down some of their wells.
April Rubin reporting contributed.