Winds pushing wildfire away from evacuated Fort Chipewyan

Winds pushed a fire that is dangerously close to a northern Alberta hamlet away from homes Wednesday, but officials are aware a new weather system could change that.

Roughly 630 people have evacuated Fort Chipewyan, where a wildfire more than 8,500 hectares big is 10 kilometres north of the remote community.

An evacuation alert was upgraded to an evacuation order Tuesday night. It’s in effect for Mikisew Cree First Nation, Fort Chipewyan Metis Nation and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

The phased evacuation is underway – with the help of the Canadian Armed Forces – by aircraft and boat.

“We’ve had about 108 individuals taken out by Canadian Armed Forces on the Hercules aircraft, and about another 96 people have gone by boat. In total it has been 537 by air,” said Bre Hutchinson, the executive director of Alberta Emergency Management Agency

“Because we recognize it’s such a remote community with only those two options to evacuate, we do work closely and early on with officials to ensure that we can get people out as quickly and safely as possible.”

Wildfire MWF-025 is currently burning near Fort Chipewyan and is classified as out of control at approximately 8,600 hectares. Visit https://t.co/bipX8IBoLT for up-to-date information on the status of the wildfire. pic.twitter.com/QiKx2XVQTy

— Alberta Wildfire (@AlbertaWildfire) May 31, 2023

The fire chief from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo says the remoteness of the community adds some extra complexities when evacuating residents.

“Typically when you have an evacuation order, you hope residents are ready to go in their vehicles, and leave, but that’s not the case here,” said Jody Butz. “So we’ve had to arrange the airlines, and the flights out of the community that would meet and match the number of evacuees, so it’s been challenging.

“We’re obviously very concerned. We issued an evacuation order, and we are taking an abundance of caution. We know the hazard levels are extreme in that northern part of Alberta. And so when we get a scenario like this, we want to be very cautious and make sure residents are in a safe place, and we put all the efforts we can to protect the community.”

More resources expected 

The fire grew to the northeast Wednesday, away from the community, Alberta Wildfire said during the afternoon update.

Firefighters, helicopters with buckets and air tankers were working to control the blaze. More resources were expected to arrive Wednesday.

“Our regional emergency services teams are working on sprinkler systems and structural protection within the community,” added Butz. “There are dozens of crews and heavy equipment in the community, so it’s a large effort that’s being undertaken at the moment.”

Josee St-Onge with Alberta Wildfire says they’re expecting favourable winds for one more day.

“We’re watching the wind very closely,” said St-Onge. “The forecast for today is that the winds would continue to push the fire away from the community. They’re coming from the south and the southwest.

“We will be seeing a new weather system coming into the province in the next few days. So we’ll have to watch carefully to see how that’s going to impact the wind. But we have experts that are looking at this constantly because evidently the wind factor is very important in determining the direction in which the fire grows.”

The wildfire danger in northern Alberta continues to be extreme, with hot and dry conditions.

There were 66 active wildfires, including 18 out of control, as of Wednesday afternoon.

More than 1.1 million hectares have burned in Alberta this wildfire season.

Roughly 4,400 Albertans are evacuated from their homes.

Fort Chipewyan is roughly 300 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

WATCH: Facebook livestream with three First Nation Chiefs 

—With files from Laura Krause