Firefighters battling a blaze in a remote northern Alberta community were temporarily trapped Thursday as wildfires closed in on communities across the province, forcing thousands to flee.
Fires raging in central and northern Alberta grew increasingly volatile Thursday, forcing a new wave of evacuees to flee as baking heat, severe thunderstorms and battering winds fanned the flames. Air quality alerts have been issued across most of Alberta as smoke blankets the province.
Eight firefighters had to shelter in place and wait to be rescued as flames moved into Chipewyan Lake, about 450 kilometres north of Edmonton.
The full extent of the damage to Chipewyan Lake is not known but officials said Friday that the community’s water treatment plant has been destroyed.
Sheltering from the flames
According to Alberta’s Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen, the firefighters were responding to a fire when they temporarily lost radio contact just after 8 p.m.
The firefighters had to take cover in the community overnight, as efforts to extract them using night vision technology was stymied by heavy smoke. One team took cover in a fire station, the other in a local school.
Emergency officials with the local municipality say the firefighters are now safe.
According to a statement from the emergency management team for the Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 issued Friday, the firefighters eventually drove their way out, making their way to the hamlet of Wabasca, about 140 kilometres to the south.
“Aircraft was unable to land due to smoky conditions, however, the road was determined to be safe for the firefighter crews to drive out of Chipewyan Lake,” officials said.
Loewen told CBC News on Friday that the smoke prohibited the use of Alberta Wildfire’s night-vision helicopters, which still need a certain level of visibility.
A 20-man forestry crew was sent to assist the crews navigate the road which had been blocked by downed trees, officials said.
The crew awaiting rescue was made up of four firefighters with the municipal district and four provincial wildland firefighters. Municipal officials said they were notified of ongoing rescue efforts around 9 p.m. Thursday after the fire had moved into the community.
Officials with Alberta Wildfire, the province’s wildfire-fighting agency, have declined to comment on the rescue.
Officials said they will survey the damage in detail as soon as it’s safe to do so.
It’s still May, and wildfire season across the Prairies is already off to a dangerous and fast-moving start. Meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe explains how extreme heat, and gusty winds are creating a perfect storm for fire growth — with no rain in sight.
Alberta Wildfire will review the incident to see if anything could have been done better, Loewen said.
“Safety is the No. 1 concern for our people; making sure that they’re safe, making sure that we have that communication channel open at all times,” he said. “That’s what was alarming, is we did lose communication for a short period of time.”
Chipewyan Lake, which is only accessible by a single industry access road, was evacuated Thursday.
The community, home to around 75 people, was evacuated in May 2019 and in May 2023.
Two out-of-control wildfires are moving in on the community.
One is approaching from the southwest, and as of Thursday afternoon, had burned more than 20,000 hectares. The other is coming in from the north at more than 3,000 hectares.
A band of fires is burning across the remote region of northern Alberta, forcing more than 300 people living in Red Earth Creek as well as 1,300 residents of Loon Lake, Peerless Lake and Trout Lake.
More than 50 wildfires are burning across the province Friday morning, with nearly 30 burning out of control. A hot, dry spell has strained efforts to contain them. Firefighters have battled increasingly extreme and unpredictable fire behaviour in recent days.
New evacuation orders
Within a matter of hours on Thursday evening, a string of new communities were forced out.
Yellowhead County issued an evacuation order to people living around the hamlet of Peers, about 165 kilometres west of Edmonton. As of Thursday afternoon, a wildfire was burning out of control about one kilometre south of the community.
Some residents of Westlock County have also been told to flee because of a fire in Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park, which spanned 900 hectares.
Dene Tha’ First Nation issued an evacuation order for residents of Chateh, a community about 660 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
As of Friday, an out-of-control fire southwest of the community had grown to 10,000 hectares, multiplying in size from 1,730 hectares the day before.
Familiar with fire
After years of destructive Alberta wildfire seasons, it is not the first time many of the evacuees have been forced from their homes.
The 1,300 residents of Swan Hills, northwest of Edmonton, were ordered earlier this week to evacuate due to a wildfire that has consumed more than 7,800 hectares and drawn within eight kilometres of the community. It was evacuated due to wildfires in 2023.
Dene’ Tha First Nation, in the northwest corner of Alberta, issued an evacuation order Thursday evening for the community of Chateh.
The community experienced a devastating flood in 2022 and was under threat from wildfires in 2023 and 2024.
Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza said a fire burning about 10 kilometres away from Chateh forced more than 900 residents to evacuate on back roads.
The fire had blocked Highway 58, the main highway to High Level, which forced evacuees to take a 230-kilometre round trip on gravel roads to a safety checkpoint in Bushe River.
Even before the evacuation order came, people were concerned about the approaching fire, Hooka-Nooza said.
“The wind was blowing toward the community,” he said Thursday.
“Some people were calling, concerned, remembering the events that they had to go through last year.
“So they must be in panic mode. But the main thing is, our group is helping them get out of the community, where they will be safe.”
