Wildfire evacuation order issued for parts of Fort McMurray

Residents of several neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray have been ordered to leave their homes as a wildfire rages out-of-control south of the community.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo issued the order at 2 p.m. Tuesday. It’s in effect for the Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek, and Grayling Terrace communities.

Residents are being told they must leave their homes by 4 p.m.

All evacuees should register online through the MyAlberta Emergency Registration System (MAERS).

That’s about 6,000 residents, regional fire chief Jody Butz said.

In an update Monday morning, Alberta Wildfire officials said the MWF017 wildfire had grown to about 9,602 hectares in size, about 3,000 hectares larger than it was on Sunday evening.

Alberta Wildfire spokesperson Josee St-Onge said the fire has grown in size and towards the northeast since the last estimate. She said wind is pushing it towards the town of Fort McMurray. St-Onge said the fire is estimated to be about 13.5 km from the Fort McMurray landfill but “smoke is impacting visibility” and making it difficult to determine accurate distances.

The winds from the southwest of up to 40 km/h are “not favourable,” St-Onge explained.

“We’re seeing extreme fire behaviour,” she said. “Smoke columns are developing.”

Firefighters have been pulled from fire lines for safety reasons, St-Onge said, but aerial attack continues.

“We understand this is a very stressful time for the community. We are doing everything we can,” she added.

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Butz said crews are confident they can defend the neighbourhoods from fire but need people “out of harm’s way” so they can focus their efforts.

He encouraged Fort McMurray residents to give those under evacuation order time and space to get out before leaving themselves, by choice, later.

Sara Spears lives just a couple of kilometres away from the area that’s under evacuation order. She said her family has their camper ready to go at a moment’s notice.

“Of course, everybody is scared and this is scary. I just think everybody wants to get out. It’s hard because those people are on an order and they need to leave first.”

Spears said she’s noticed the sky change over the course of Tuesday.

“It’s gone from red, yellow, orange to black and then to greyish. So, I feel like it’s moving. I don’t know which direction.”

Marina Barnes, who’s lived in Fort McMurray for four years, was also alerted by the sky.

“I woke up this morning and through the window — you can see all over town, I can see over the highway — and it was just completely filled with smoke.

“It was unreal. It was very hard to breathe… The sky was just completely black and then orange, pure orange. You could see the flames in the smoke cloud.”

Barnes said she went into work before being sent home — her neighbourhood was given two hours to prepare to leave.

“It did take us a good two hours, maybe a bit more, to get out of town. And just to get out of my area, Abasand … we probably spent a good hour just trying to get out of my neighbourhood,” she said.

Barnes and her friend are driving to Lac La Biche with their pets where there is accommodation.

“I think the worst part, though, is the unknown — not knowing if you’re going to go back to your home.”

Butz said this fire is not the same as the one that forced the entire city out in 2016. That wildfire — dubbed “the beast” — was fuelled by C-6 materials, Butz explained, old “Crown” vegetation that was unburnt for years and years. This fire is being fuelled by dead and downed trees as well as some dry grass. Butz called it a “surface fire.”

He estimated the fire was more than 10,000 hectares in size and had not crossed the Athabasca River. There was not “a major concern of that happening” Tuesday, Butz said.

He also said the region is more prepared for wildfire this time around. They have experience and have adopted a FireSmart program, creating separations between neighbourhoods.

And, Butz said there are about 250 to 300 firefighters ready to help — and that’s outside the Alberta Wildfire forestry fire crews. Butz said there are seven different fire departments — Fort McMurray’s and six rural ones — with about 146 full-time firefighters and 80 volunteer firefighters. He said industry partners bring about 50-60 firefighters as well.

“Inside the community, our municipal firefighters, along with mutual aid partners in industry, we’re setting up defences between the forest and structures,” he said. “In that space, we’re not going anywhere and we won’t back down.”

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An evacuation alert remains in effect for the rest of Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek, Gregoire Lake Estates, Fort McMurray First Nation #468, Anzac, and Rickards Landing Industrial Park.

The two-hour evacuation alert means that residents must be ready to leave with two hours’ notice if the situation changes and an evacuation order is issued.

More information on the areas that are under evacuation alert is available on the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo’s website.

Wood Buffalo Mayor Sandy Bowman said he was in contact with the premier and MLAs to make sure all the resources that are available to the region are sent there.

He said some people will be experiencing trauma connected to the 2016 wildfire.

“The community is here behind you. We want to make sure you’re safe.”

The Fort McMurray Public School Division and Catholic Schools said Tuesday afternoon that all schools would be closed for the remainder of the week (May 15-17).

At 4:30 p.m., Wood Buffalo RCMP said Highway 63 northbound between Highway 881 and Saprae Creek Trail (Highway 69) was temporarily closed to “allow preventative fire measures to take place.”

Just before 3 p.m. Tuesday, the northbound lanes of Highway 63 from Atmore to Fort McMurray were closed to help facilitate wildfire evacuations, 511 Alberta posted on social media.

Meteoblue web cameras around the Fort McMurray airport show lines of vehicles on Highway 63 and in the Thickwood area.

Premier Danielle Smith said evacuation payments are in place again just as they were last year.

“We’ve allowed for, after seven days being evacuated, $1,250 per adult, as well as $600 per child,” she said. “That has been something that’s already been approved by cabinet.”

She said the Alberta Emergency Management Agency and emergency management committee will meet Tuesday evening.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said while the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre was not being evacuated, buses are ready in case it does need to be.

“AHS is evacuating 21 patients at this time based on their more complex needs… from various continuing care and acute care settings, not all from the hospital.”

For the latest information on which areas in Alberta are under an evacuation alert or order due to a wildfire, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.

For the latest information on the wildfire status and danger across the province, visit the Alberta Wildfire website.

The latest information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.