An Alberta emergency alert issued Sunday for a wildfire in an area in Cypress County west of Irvine, Alta., has since been cancelled.
“We were able to contain the fire and prevent any loss of residences due to the extraordinary efforts of our firefighters and partners,” said the county’s emergency management director Joe Cartwright in a statement to CBC News.
Occupants of a dozen residences that were forced to evacuate were cleared to return late Sunday afternoon.
County spokesperson Sean Rooney said “fire fighters still have lots of work to do” and were expected to continue operating at the site into Sunday evening.
The alert was first issued at 12:59 p.m., warning that a wildfire south of Highway 1 along Range Road 40 was threatening residential homes, with winds coming from the west.
Both directions of Range Road 40 have since been opened at eastbound Highway 1 as of Sunday afternoon, according to 511 Alberta.
In a post on X, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said “Alberta Wildfire is deploying a crew to support wildfire fighting efforts both on the ground and from the air.”
Cypress County has issued an Alberta Emergency Alert for a wildfire east of Dunmore. Please share with those in the area. <br><br>Alberta Wildfire is deploying a crew to support wildfire fighting efforts both on the ground and from the air. <br><br>Impacted communities and those in close… <a href=”https://t.co/ns8l8c2L5w”>https://t.co/ns8l8c2L5w</a>
—@ABDanielleSmith
HALO air ambulance’s emergency helicopter service and Redcliff RCMP were both involved with responding Sunday.
The area is southeast of Medicine Hat, and about three hours southeast of Calgary.
