UPDATED at 9:25 p.m. May 15, 2023
Yellowhead County has issued a Wildfire Evacuation Order for east of Shining Bank Lake.
Officials with Alberta Emergency Alert say the Evacuation Order is for everyone in the area:
North of Township Rd 550, east of Highway 32, South of Township Rd 570 east to Range Rd 130, south to Township Rd 561, and west of Range Rd 120.
Residents in this area need to evacuate. There is a wildfire east of Shining Bank Lake.
The established evacuation routes are:
South on Range Rd 130; south on Highway 32; west on Highway 748; or south on Highway 751. The Shining Bank Reception Centre will be at the Holiday Inn in Edson at 4520 2 Ave. Evacuees can register at the Reception Centre or call 1-833-334-4630.
Everyone in the affected area needs to evacuate. Gather pets, important documents, medication, food, water, supplies for at least three days. Go to www.alberta.ca/emergencyalert, local media for updates.
Additional information: Shiningbank-AEA-Evacuation-ORDER-Map-May-14-Hwy-32.jpeg
According to Yellowhead County:
“If you do not follow an evacuation order, you need to have an exit plan in place for your safety. Due to worsening conditions, first responders may not be able to return for you. You are ignoring the order at your own risk. We strongly encourage you to leave for your safety.”
Please call 1-833-334-4630 for more information.
According to Alberta Wildfire on May 15, 2023:
- Wildfire EWF-035 is located 3 km southeast of Shining Bank and is classified as out of control at 5,332 hectares.
- Wildfires WCU-001 and WCU-002 are in the area of Evansburg, Entwistle, Wildwood, Lobstick and Hansonville. They are classified as out of control 7,281 hectares (WCU001) and 2,401 hectares (WCU002).
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An Evacuation Order remains in place for Brazeau County, including the town of Drayton Valley.
Officials with Alberta Emergency Alert say the Evacuation Order remains in effect for residents in the following area:
From Township 480 north to Township 494 and Range Road 64 west to Range Road 90. This includes the entire community of Drayton Valley. Township Road 480 north to Highway 621 between Range Road 90 and Range Road 110, including Cynthia, prepare to evacuate on 30 minutes notice. From Highway 39 north on the east side of the North Saskatchewan River is NOT part of the evacuation order.
Impacted residents may evacuate to Edmonton and register at the Expo Center, at 7515 118 Ave at Hall C. If you need help evacuating, call 780-542-7777. Follow Drayton Valley and Brazeau County social media for the most up to date information.
According to Alberta Wildfire on May 15, 2023:
- Wildfire RCU-005 is 2 km from the south edge of Drayton Valley. It is classified as out of control at 4,959 hectares.
- Alberta Wildfire has sent firefighters and helicopters to assist Brazeau County with this wildfire.
According to Brazeau County:
“Drayton Valley Enforcement Services continues to lead the response within the Town of Drayton Valley and Brazeau County to care for your animals.
“So far, our teams have provided care for 414 different animals within the evacuated areas and have successfully reunited 170 pets with their owners”, explains Cody Rossing, Peace Officer with the Town of Drayton Valley, “our teams have been working extremely hard and I am very thankful for everything they have done so far.”
We would also like to thank Peace Officers from Alberta SPCA, City of Red Deer, Town of Morinville, Lacombe County, Town of Stony Plain, and the City of Fort Saskatchewan for pulling together and providing ongoing support to Enforcement Services during this emergency.
We understand that being away from your pets can be extremely difficult and stressful. We are excited for your reunification with your pets. Officers will continue attempting to reach out to animal owners that have registered to determine a plan to reunite you with your pets. Be aware, these calls may be coming from a private number. It is important that during these times, you are answering your calls to expedite this process.
Crews continue to work on the Buck Creek wildfire, and have made great progress on identifying and extinguishing hotspots, assisted by heat scans overnight. Today will again be hot and dry, but crews continue to extinguish hotspots near residential homes.
Currently there are more than 200 people conducting fire operations on the fire line, including crews from the Canadian Armed Forces, our local departments, and ones from across Canada and the U.S.
Work continues to establish a re-entry plan for residents for when it is determined that it is safe to do so. Despite the complexity involved in ensuring the community has the critical infrastructure in place, the plan is developing quickly, and all staff working in the Incident Command Post and Emergency Command Centre are working toward re-entry of the community as soon as is safe and feasible. Please continue to follow these social media pages or the Town of Drayton Valley and Brazeau County websites for updates.”
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An Evacuation Order remains in place for parts of the Municipal District of Greenview.
Officials with Alberta Emergency Alert say this alert is in effect for Fox Creek to Little Smoky and all areas immediately surrounding these communities up to Highway 947.
There is a wildfire that has forced the evacuation of the entire Town of Fox Creek, Hamlet of Little Smoky and surrounding areas. If you are in the affected area, evacuate immediately. Everyone in Fox Creek to Little Smoky and all areas immediately surrounding the area must evacuate to Whitecourt on Highway 43.
A reception centre is located at the Allan and Jean Millar Centre, 58 Sunset Blvd, Whitecourt. Evacuees are required to register. Residents between Township Road 683 and 670 and Range Road 232 and 211 must prepare to evacuate on a 1-hour notice.
Meantime, the MD of Greenview has issued a Wildfire Evacuation Notice.
May 15, 2023 at 13:00 PM
Area: Evacuation Order issued for Greenview Residents in the following area: Highway 49/RR 222 South to TWP RD 700, West to RR 240 and North to TWP RD 722, including Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation.
Description: The Sturgeon Lake Fire Complex is currently burning West/North West of Valleyview. With worsening weather conditions, everyone in the affected area must evacuate immediately.
Instruction: Greenview Residents: If you are in the affected area, evacuate immediately. Gather pets, important documents and medication, and enough food, water and supplies for at least 3 days.
Pack clothes, food, water, important documents and medication for 3 days. Bring your pets. Evacuate to Grande Prairie. A reception center has been established at the Bonnetts Energy Centre located at 10017 99 Ave in Grande Prairie.
Additional information/map can be found at https://mdgreenview.ab.ca/new-may-15-2023-valleyview…/
For highway closures, check 511 Alberta. Stay tuned to local media or call 780-524-6584 for assistance.
According to Alberta Wildfire on May 15, 2023:
- This wildfire is located in the Fox Creek area. It is classified as out of control at 30,654 hectares.
- Alberta Wildfire is responding with 13 firefighters, heavy equipment and eight helicopters conducting bucketing operations.
- Wildfire EWF-031 is located 25 km west of Lodgepole, 20 km northwest of Brazeau Dam and 14 km southeast of Edson. It is still classified as out of control at 82,666 hectares.
According to the MD of Greenview:
“WWF023 (Eagle Fire) was first detected by the Eagle Tower Road, 15.7 km northeast of the town of Fox Creek on May 5, and is burning out of control. This fire was re-assessed and is now 30,654 ha in size as there was some fire growth on the northwest side of the fire on May 14.
Airtankers continued to work on this fire. Additional resources are expected to assist on this wildfire Monday morning. Dozers continue building guards to prevent the wildfire from spreading further towards communities. Helicopter crews continue to work on reinforcing containment at the head of the fire.
Helitack crews from Oregon and Cypress Hills as well as a pre-suppression crew from Quebec continue to assist with firefighting efforts. The wildfire is approximately 14 km SE of Little Smoky. Crews will continue searching for hotspots on an ongoing basis. Structure protection deployment will continue as the situation changes.
The situation remains ever changing and conditions on the fireline will vary due to weather conditions. Wildfires burn very hot and will burn into the ground. Fire behaviour is forecasted to continue increasing into this week. High temperatures and drying conditions are anticipated to continue Monday as an upper ridge builds over the province. Little or no precipitation is expected.
GWF027 – is classified as out of control (OC) and estimated to be 350ha and is located 27 km SW of Little Smoky. This wildfire quickly grew to an active crown fire and had very aggressive fire behaviour even under light winds. Our efforts for tanker drops and bucketing were ineffective and all crews and machines were pulled off this wildfire. We are mobilizing heavy equipment and ground crews as this fire is expected to grow in the coming days.”
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Woodlands County has issued a Wildfire Alert for a southern portion of the county.
Officials with Alberta Emergency Alert say this alert is in effect for everyone in the area:
North of Township Rd 561, west of Range Road 120, south of Groat Creek Road, Twp Rd 584, west of the McLeod River to RR 144, east of the McLeod River to RR 123 at Whitecourt Mountain.
There is a wildfire south of Township Road 570, west of RR 123, north of Twp Rd 560 and east of Shining Bank. No evacuation is required currently. However, with worsening weather conditions, this fire could force evacuation of the affected area.
Everyone in the affected area must prepare for a possible evacuation. Gather pets, important documents and medication, enough food, water and supplies for at least three days. This alert will be updated if an evacuation is required. Stay tuned to www.alberta.ca/emergencyalert, local media for updates.
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Leduc County has cancelled a Wildfire Alert.
Officials with Alberta Emergency Alert say this alert was in effect for everyone from Township Road 504, north to the North Saskatchewan River between Range Road 271 and Range Road 265.
The wildfire is under control and fire crews remain on scene monitoring conditions. The evacuation of the area has been lifted and impacted residents who registered with Leduc County have been notified. Township Road 504 and Range Road 265 and 271 are now open.
No further action is needed and evacuated residents may return to their homes.
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