Out-of-control wildfire forces evacuation of northern Alberta community

Chipewyan Lake in northern Alberta was evacuated Thursday night as an out-of-control wildfire burned toward the community.

The Alberta Emergency Alert for the community 450 kilometres north of Edmonton was issued at 10:21 p.m.

"There is out of control wildfire east of Chipewyan Lake," the alert read. "It is burning west towards the community. The wildfire threatens the only route in and out."

• Visit our wildfires page for the latest news, emergency alerts and more

Residents were told to evacuate immediately and bring important documents and medications.

The wildfire spurred the Municipal District of Opportunity to declare a state of emergency and to issue an evacuation order for 89 residents of the unincorporated community on the southern shore of the lake, which is 377 kilometres north of Edmonton.

A reception centre has been set up at the Lakeview Sports Centre, located at 102 Opportunity Dr. in Wabasca-Desmarais.

Officials with Alberta Wildfire said the wildfire near Chipewyan Lake, named HWF061, is sized 2,200 hectares, and is about 20 kilometres northwest of the community and 22 kilometres from Chip Road.

Provincial wildfire update

As of Friday afternoon, 144 wildfires are burning in Alberta's Forest Protection Area, 55 of them out of control, Christie Tucker, Alberta Wildfire's information unit manager, said in a media update.

Since Jan. 1, 887 wildfires have been recorded in the province's Forest Protection Area, which includes most of northern Alberta and foothills regions alongside the Rocky Mountains.

The fires have burned more than 413,000 hectares

Of the 887 wildfires:

• 58 are classified as out of control, 42 are being held and 46 are under control;
• 741 of them have been extinguished;
• 377 of them have started since July 1, half of them caused by lightning, Tucker said;
• And temperatures 10 C above normal are contributing to greater fire risk.

Semo Complex fire

The wildfire that led to last week's evacuation of Garden River, HWF061, is classified as out of control and is more than 62,000 hectares in size;

It sits 19 kilometres northwest of the community about 575 kilometres north of Edmonton and 195 kilometres east of High Level.

An evacuation order on July 11 saw 981 residents relocate to John D'Or Prairie, High Level and Peace River.

Janvier fire

A wildfire 15 kilometres south of Janvier is classified as out of control and is more than 500 hectares in size.

The fire, labelled LWF136, put the hamlet of Janvier and Janvier First Nation under an evacuation alert. Residents are asked to prepare to evacuate on short notice.

Janvier is 100 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray and 320 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.