Entwistle residents flee twice in once week, more Parkland County residents evacuated Friday

Evacuation orders in Parkland county have been expanded to include everyone west of Range Road 65 near Entwistle, north of Township Road 530 to south of Township Road 534.

The new orders follow the evacuation of Entwistle on Thursday night. It's the second time the community has been told to leave in less than a week.

Thursday, an alert was issued for the hamlet of around 750 residents at 7:21 p.m., telling everyone west of Range Road 65 to the Pembina River, north of Township Road 530 to Highway 16, to evacuate immediately.

The communities of Entwistle and Evansburg were first evacuated due to a wildfire on April 29, and residents had only just returned home on Wednesday.

"We packed pretty quick again," said Heather McGowan.

"We're getting good at it," Dan McGowan added.

Thursday night, for the second time in six days, Heather and Dan packed clothes, important documents and old photo albums.

When they left Thursday night, they said the fire was around a mile from their home in Entwistle.

"I know a lot of people might be upset about this, but I grabbed what I needed to grab that I thought was important," Heather said. "He’s with me, my family’s safe. I’m good."

"Not much you can do," Dan said. "Once you've got the stuff you need, the rest is just replaceable."

Allan Gamble, Parkland County mayor, said public safety is the county's priority and the second evacuation order was given after the wildfire doubled in size over the last few days.

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Susan Cameron was evacuated three times — twice from her Entwistle home, and then again from a reception centre in Wildwood.

"It’s just quite hard on a person," Cameron said. "And in Edson it’s really, really, really smoky and there’s ash flying all over the place so anybody with breathing problems is having problems too."

Cameron has evacuated to Edson, which was issued an evacuation order Friday evening.

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Gamble said fire guards and sprinkler systems are being used to protect homes in Entwistle, and Alberta Wildfire and fire crews from neighbouring communities are helping the 40 Parkland County firefighters battle the blaze.

"The response has been tremendous," he said, but added that the county is still in need of some extra support. "We are still looking for heavy equipment and high-pressure water systems that can help us to contain the fire."

The county is looking for more trained firefighters and anyone who can help move livestock.

Parkland County residents who have been evacuated can register at the Wabamun Jubilee Hall or at the Wabamun Coal Diamond Sports Park.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson