Officials urge Albertans to make evacuation plans as fire activity intensifies

The number of active wildfires in Alberta had increased from Friday's 74 to 86 Saturday afternoon, and the number of out-of-control fires remained at 23.

Officials said hot, dry weather will continue to intensify wildfire activity over the weekend and they're asking Albertans to stay vigilant and be ready in case of an evacuation.

"We're seeing widespread cross-over conditions, which means that the temperature is higher than the relative humidity. These conditions lead to extreme fire behaviour and will challenge our firefighters on the ground. New wildfires can ignite easily and spread quickly," said Josee St-Onge, Alberta Wildfire information officer.

More than 1,500 wildland firefighters are working on fighting the fires, and another 200 firefighters are arriving soon from the U.S., St-Onge said.

So far this year, more than 443 wildfires have burned 470,000 hectares.

BE PREPARED

The wildfires have prompted 19 local states of emergency and four Band Council resolutions.

The province added one more evacuation order Saturday afternoon during the government update, when Leduc County issued an emergency alert due to a wildfire west of Devon, making the total 11.

Before the alert, the estimated number of evacuees in Alberta was more than 16,500, similar to Thursday and Friday's number.

With conditions worsening, government officials are urging all Albertans to make plans to get to safety.

"Preparing in advance can help keep you and your loved ones safe," said Bre Hutchinson, Alberta Emergency Management executive director. "[It's] important to create an emergency plan for yourself and your family that everyone understands.

"Talk about what you would do, where you would go, how you would stay in touch if you were not together or not at home when an evacuation order is issued."

Hutchinson said Albertans can find emergency preparedness instructions on the Government of Alberta website. A telephone town hall on how to prepare for an evacuation will be held Saturday at 6 p.m.

The regular telephone town hall for evacuees will be held at 7:30 p.m. Both town halls can be accessed by calling 1-833-380-0691.

'FOLLOW THE EVACUATION ORDERS'

Several questions have been raised at recent government updates about farmers with livestock under evacuation orders.

Some municipalities have allowed producers to feed and check on animals in evacuation zones, but Mike Ellis, minister of public safety and emergency services, said it's up to local authorities to allow re-entry.

Ellis said additional resources for producers can be found here. He said evacuees with agricultural or livestock related questions can also call the 24-hour Alberta wildfire information line at 310-4455.

Officials reiterated Saturday that all Albertans affected by wildfires should listen to local authorities and follow instructions in Alberta Emergency Alerts.

"It's very important that we follow the evacuation orders first and foremost," said Nate Horner, minister of Agriculture and Irrigation. "Farmers and ranchers with livestock to care for, [if] concerned they need to go to their municipality, they need to go to the reception centre or they need to go register online to make sure they can have that conversation with the people on the ground."

The County of Grande Prairie posted a video to social media asking people not to try and fight fires on their own.

Grande Prairie Fire Chief Trevor Grant said crews were fighting a newly started fire in a treed area on Friday when a member of the public, unknown to the crew, came from the other side in a piece of heavy equipment.

"[They] almost hit the firefighters with the piece of equipment as well as the trees that were falling from the piece of equipment," Grant said. "Our firefighters had to run to get out of the way and it created quite a hazardous situation for the firefighters.

"And the resident was trying to help but it actually made things worse, because it just pushed all of the fuel on top of the fire we were trying to put out."

Grant said offers to help can be made to local authorities. Albertans can also email their offers to help firefighting efforts to [e-mail].

"Across the province, they're doing a great job of onboarding volunteers and equipment, it just has to be done the right way," Horner said. "Everyone needs to understand the risk, because this is changing so quickly.

  "People need to understand that there may be instances where rescue isn't possible."

Donations for wildfire evacuees can be made to the Red Cross. Those donations are currently being matched by the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta.