Evacuation order issued for Edson, parts of Yellowhead County due to wildfire
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An evacuation order has been issued for the Town of Edson and some regions of Yellowhead County, west of Edmonton due to wildfire danger.
It's the second time Edson residents have been forced to flee their homes in the last month.
The town was evacuated May 5 because of an encroaching wildfire, but residents were allowed to return on May 8. Other parts of Yellowhead County also had to evacuate in May, but by the end of the month, everyone had been allowed to return.
An emergency alert issued just before 6:30 p.m. Friday said fires are "becoming increasingly unpredictable" and have jumped fire guards, moving closer to populated areas.
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A statement posted to the Yellowhead County Facebook page Friday says fires south of Edson and in the Shining bank area have shown "extreme behaviour" and that numerous new fires have recently flared up in the area.
About 11,000 people live in Yellowhead County, including 8,000 residents in Edson. The town is approximately 200 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Just after 8 p.m. Friday, another evacuation order was issued for part of the Municipal District of Greenview, due to a different fire threatening the Sweathouse area about 150 kilometres east of Grande Prairie.
'You can never let your guard down'
Hayley Waites drove out of Edson with her kids Friday evening alongside what she described as a "massive convoy of people" leaving town.
"I'm overwhelmed," she said.
"When you're panicking to get everything going, you're just thinking about saving yourself. But the moment you drive away, you think, 'What if my home isn't there when I get back?'"
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Evacuees are being asked to go to the reception centre at the Edmonton Expo Centre. The evacuation centre was closed last month after evacuation orders were lifted for communities using the resource.
Gerry Clarke, emergency support response team coordinator at the City of Edmonton, said crews were preparing to re-open the reception centre hours ahead of the evacuation order. Before evacuees arrived Friday, workers were setting up a registration area, and getting food and cots ready for an influx of people.
"You can never let your guard down, especially the smaller communities ... A wildfire can change with the wind. It's mother nature at her worst, I guess," Clarke said.
"And you should always be prepared, come summer time, something like this might happen."
Residents urged to heed evacuation orders once issued
The new evacuation expands an existing order that took effect Thursday for people living south of Township Road 560 on East Bank Road and west to the McLeod River.
An evacuation alert remains for the entire municipality of Yellowhead County — in areas where an evacuation order isn't currently in effect — meaning residents must be prepared to leave quickly.
In a video update posted to social media, officials from Yellowhead County and Edson urged residents to heed the evacuation orders when they arrive. They said they're worried the fires could potentially cut off highway access.
Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams said it's disappointing that evacuations are necessary again.
"We were certainly hoping we wouldn't get back to this point, although we've known for the last few weeks that it could possibly happen," he said.
"With the temperatures as high as they are, the humidity as low as it is, this is just a perfect storm for these fires."
Yellowhead County chief administrative officer Luc Mercier said one fire, officially dubbed Wildfire EWF-031, has been especially dangerous recently.
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"Because that fire is so much out of control this afternoon, some of the forestry crews have had to back off that fire. They can't fight it," he said, adding the next 36 hours will be "crucial."
According to the Alberta Wildfire dashboard, as of Friday evening, there are 73 fires burning across the province's forest protection areas, and 23 are out of control.
Alberta declared a state of emergency in May as more than 100 out-of-control wildfires burned across the province. The declaration was lifted last weekend as more fires were contained.
At the time, officials said work to fight fires and help displaced people was still not over, with several months left to go in wildfire season.
Thumbnail courtesy of Nicki Frisson via CBC.
This article was originally published for CBC News.
