Edson remains evacuated as parts of Yellowhead County allowed to return home

Some residents of Yellowhead County have been cleared to return home after an evacuation order was lifted for parts of the county Wednesday afternoon.

Edson residents, however, are being told it’s still not safe to return home, after being ordered to evacuate last Friday.

After being told to evacuate, residents of Edson were given a tentative return date of June 14. The area has seen some rain and the fire has been held for days within a kilometre-and-a-half of the town. Due to its proximity to the blaze, officials claim the risk to residents is still too great.

Edson Mayor Kevin Zahara offered some hope, suggesting that a plan to return could be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m.

“The town of Edson has a more complex re-entry due to the amount of services and the amount of people that would be re-entering the community,” he said.

Wildfire Alert and Evacuation map for Yellowhead County on June 14, 2023. (Photo Credit: Facebook/ @yellowheadcounty)

For those able to return, officials say it’s the northern part of the county that is being re-opened at 6 p.m Wednesday. The area will remain under an Alert, meaning residents are being asked to be ready to leave within four hours.

As for the wildfire status, rain over the last two days has bought those fighting the fires some time. The rain has reduced the wildfire risk in the area to moderate but has not had much impact on the actual fires that are burning and smoldering, with the Yellowhead County fire still classified as out of control, sitting at approximately 204,000 hectares in size.

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Steadier rain is expected Saturday, and additional crews will be arriving to assist those already brought in from Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., South Africa, Alberta, and B.C.

Since fires are still listed as out of control, a local State of Emergency is still in effect for Yellowhead County.

Those who are able to return, who may need transportation assistance officials say arrangements are being made.

In addition, a re-entry package can be found on the Yellowhead County website after 6 p.m., and it will outline important information regarding returning home.

There will be no services available in the county, including food, fuel, hospital, and EMS.

“If you are concerned about health issues or anything, you may not be able to get EMS. If you need it, if that makes you uncomfortable, we would ask you to stay away for another day or two until these services can get back up and running,” said Wade Williams, Mayor of Yellowhead County.

Re-entry and still evacuated areas

The 6:00 PM re-entry area is west of Highway 751 along the north of Highway 16 (excluding the Town of Edson) until Range Road 183.

North to Township Road 540 to Range Road 190 to Township Road 550 and everywhere north of this area.

The area that remains under an Evacuation Order is west of Range Road 114, south of Highway 16 (including the Town of Edson) to Range Road 183, north to Township Road 540 to Range Road 190 to Township Road 550, and south to Highway 16.

This includes the Hamlet of Marlboro and Millers Lake, continuing west along Highway 16 to Range Road 213 south to Township 520 and east back to Range Road 114.