'Ready to go': Fort McMurray residents prepared for evacuation as crews battle nearby wildfire
An evacuation alert remains in place in the Fort McMurray area on Monday afternoon.
Residents of Saprae Creek Estates, Gregoire Lake Estates, Fort McMurray First Nation #468, Anzac and Rickards Landing Industrial Park were told to be prepared to leave because of a wildfire burning out of control nearby.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo says the fire, dubbed MWF-017, remains about 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray, and was 6,575 hectares in size as of Sunday.
Officials say light showers and winds in the area on Monday morning were favourable for firefighters to continue making progress on the fire.
Crews are using heavy equipment to establish a fire guard on the northeast side of the fire, and six crews of firefighters are working on a containment line.
One woman who lost her home in the 2016 wildfire in Fort McMurray says she's ready to leave if an evacuation order is issued.
"Last time we weren't [prepared]. My husband didn't even believe me," Courtney Sweeney told CTV News Edmonton on Monday.
"Then he turned on the radio and it said, 'You have 30 minutes to evacuate.' And we were like, 'What do we do?'"
This time her family is already prepared after a fire earlier this year.
"The main thing was my kids' coin collection from their dad. Our passports, even though they're expired, just extra information. Birth certificates and our pets' ashes were the main things that I was mostly worried about," she said.
"All of my kids' favourite stuffed animals and blankets, things that you can't replace, are ready to go."
Sweeney says despite being prepared, she's not panicking.
"This time around, people just want to be really, really cautious. But at the same time, make sure you follow the actual news updates. And don't try and follow too much on social media. Because sometimes things get blown out of proportion."
"So far no one that I know of has gone out of town that wasn't already out of town for some other reason. But pretty much everybody has got something set up so that they can on a moment's notice."
Alberta Wildfire update
In a wildfire update on Monday afternoon, Alberta Wildfire said 18 new wildfires had started between Friday morning and Saturday evening.
The province is also assisting with an out-of-control wildfire in the County of Grande Prairie near the town of Teepee Creek.
"We're still seeing very high or high wildfire danger in the northern part of the province, and extreme wildfire danger continues in the Grande Prairie area today," Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire told reporters. "Firefighters and support resources are positioned around the province, particularly in those areas where we're seeing higher wildfire danger."
Tucker reminded Albertans to keep drones grounded in wildfire areas.
"If you fly a drone over or near a wildfire you could be endangering firefighters and you could cause firefighting operations to stop. Let us do our job and fight Alberta's wildfires safely."
While many parts of Alberta saw smoke over the weekend, Tucker says it wasn't actually from fires in the province.
"A lot of the smoke that we saw here in the province across the weekend was not even caused by wildfires here in Alberta, they would have been coming from B.C. and as we were seeing wildfire activity," she commented.
"You can use a website like firesmoke.ca to see how smoke is travelling across the country and what we can expect in the sort of hours as as smoke moves."
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Miriam Valdes-Carletti
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian family stuck in Lebanon anxiously awaits flight options amid Israeli strikes
A Canadian man who is trapped in Lebanon with his family says they are anxiously waiting for seats on a flight out of the country, as a barrage of Israeli airstrikes continues.
Suspect in shooting of Toronto cop was out on bail
A 21-year-old man who was charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a Toronto police officer this week was out on bail at the time of the alleged offence, court documents obtained by CTV News Toronto show.
Scientists looked at images from space to see how fast Antarctica is turning green. Here's what they found
Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent.
DEVELOPING 2 dead after fire rips through historic building in Old Montreal
At least two people are dead and others are injured after a fire ripped through a century-old building near Montreal's City Hall, sources told Noovo Info.
Yazidi woman captured by ISIS rescued in Gaza after more than a decade in captivity
A 21-year-old Yazidi woman has been rescued from Gaza where she had been held captive by Hamas for years after being trafficked by ISIS.
A 6-year-old girl was kidnapped in Arkansas in 1995. Almost 30 years later, a suspect was identified
Nearly 30 years after a six-year-old girl disappeared in Western Arkansas, authorities have identified a suspect in her abduction through DNA evidence.
Dolphins 'smile' at each other when they play and to avoid misunderstanding, study finds
For humans, flashing a smile is an easy way to avoid misunderstanding. And, according to a new study, bottlenose dolphins may use a similar tactic while playing with each other.
Pit bulls in B.C. pet mauling tested positive for meth, cocaine, says city
Three pit bulls involved in a deadly attack on another dog last month in Kamloops, B.C., tested positive for methamphetamine and cocaine, and the city is going to court to have them put down.
Tax rebate: Canadians with low to modest incomes to receive payment on Friday
Canadians who are eligible for a GST/HST tax credit can expect their final payment of the year on Friday.