Alberta braces for more wildfires as temperatures rise, winds shift

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A number of wildfires in Alberta are exhibiting ”extreme” behaviour because of dry, hot conditions, according to authorities, who expect the crisis to escalate owing to an unfavourable shift in winds.

Wildfires have forced roughly 19,300 people from their homes, down from the peak of nearly 31,000 last week, according to provincial officials. But while the number of displaced residents dropped Monday, fresh evacuation orders hit parts of Northwestern Alberta.

Officials in Valleyview have ordered residents to evacuate after one blaze threatening the town jumped part of the fire guard that authorities hoped would protect the community. The neighbouring municipal district of Greenview also expanded its mandatory evacuation zone on Monday.

There are about 90 wildfires burning in Alberta, with 23 of those classified as “out of control” as of Monday evening. The wind is expected to shift from the southeast to the northwest, with gusts reaching 50 kilometres an hour. This will further challenge firefighters dealing with unusually high temperatures across the province.

“I don’t believe the worst is behind us,” Christie Tucker, an information unit manager for Alberta Wildfire, said to reporters Monday afternoon.

The Sturgeon Lake fire complex, which is made up of two blazes, prompted the 1,600 residents of Valleyview to flee.

“We have seen extreme wildfire behaviour on that complex,” Ms. Tucker said.

Alberta Wildfire on Monday said one fire within the complex was 10 kilometres northeast of Valleyview and the other fire was three kilometres southeast of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. The fires have burned roughly 5,000 hectares so far.

There are roughly 2,500 firefighters and support staff battling blazes across Alberta, Ms. Tucker said, noting this excludes municipal and county firefighters working to protect their communities.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stopped in Edmonton on Monday to meet with military personnel who are helping fight wildfires in Alberta that worsened under the weekend heat.

Mr. Trudeau was given an overview of the fires at Canadian Forces Base Edmonton and, along with federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair, was briefed about the weather forecast and threats from rising temperatures and dryness.

Ahead of the briefing, Mr. Blair said it’s “almost without precedent to have this level of fire activity in the province.”

About 300 soldiers are being deployed across Alberta to help. Mr. Blair said Ottawa is in talks with the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico to bring in additional firefighters.

Some reservists dressed in yellow jumpsuits and bright blue safety helmets trudged through charred forest near Drayton Valley over the weekend.

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Working along firefighters, they used tools, shovels and water to put out smouldering trees and hot spots.

Adam Norris was dousing his property near Drayton Valley with water Monday morning, more than a week after fire torched his farm and land. A house, garage, vehicles, animals and irreplaceable family items were lost.

“Running on a lot of coffee and adrenalin,” Mr. Norris said about himself, as he continued to fight hot spots that flared up during the hot weekend.

The Paskwa fire has burned at least 208 structures in the community of Fox Lake, Conroy Sewepagaham, the chief of the Little Red River Cree Nation in Northern Alberta, said on Sunday evening. This includes at least 85 homes, the store, the RCMP detachment, ATCO power lines and power poles, and other structures.

The fire on Monday morning was 13 kilometres from Garden River, another LRRCN community, where crews are installing sprinklers and other protective measures.

Alberta wildfires have burned more than 534,200 hectares so far this year, compared with 456 hectares by this time last year. Fires consumed roughly 390,855 hectares by this time in 2019.

Wildfires have also been a concern in Alberta’s neighbouring jurisdictions.

Parts of British Columbia’s Peace River region remain under evacuation orders. In the southern Northwest Territories, the K’atl’odeeche First Nation and town of Hay River ordered evacuations on Sunday.

And in Saskatchewan, a wildfire near the northern community of Buffalo Narrows has prompted a state of emergency. Some residents are leaving because the smoke is affecting their health and the power is out.

The fires in Western Canada have caused smoke to drift as far east as Ontario. Environment Canada has issued air quality statements for Northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and into Northwestern Ontario.

With reports from The Canadian Press