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A wildfire burning in Barrhead County, northwest of Edmonton, triggered an evacuation order for some parts of the municipality on Thursday afternoon.
Shortly before 5 p.m., an Alberta Emergency Alert said the county had issued a state of local emergency because of the fire.
Initially, an evacuation order was issued for the Summerlea subdivision but about 45 minutes later it was expanded to include the Thunder Lake subdivision.
“There are structural fires in the Thunder Lake subdivision, south of the provincial park boat launch,” county officials said in an updated alert at 5:42 p.m.
Shortly before 7 p.m., county officials said the evacuation order for the Summerlea subdivision had been lifted and that residents of that area could return home. However, they said the evacuation order for the Thunder Lake subdivision remained in effect.
The county also noted that the fire had been contained as of Thursday evening.
Adam Vanderwekken, a spokesperson for Barrhead County, said the chief of the Barrhead Fire Regional Services told him the fire had “affected” eight cabins and about 30 outbuildings, but he did not elaborate on how what kind of damage they may have sustained.
The risk of wildfires is often present in Alberta. And with it, comes the possibility of being forced to flee your home on short notice. The CBC’s Tristan Mottershead dives into how you can be as efficient as possible if that happens.
Those forced to flee their homes were being asked to take Highway 18 and head to the county’s office in the town of Barrhead at 5306 49th St.
Wildfire evacuees were asked to register once they arrive.
“All residents should avoid travelling near this area,” county officials said.
Bayley Timm told CBC News she was in the area on Thursday to help fix up someone’s cottage on the west side of Thunder Lake when she heard a neighbour scream “fire!”
“I look and there’s black smoke, and I kind of panicked,” she said, before quickly realizing the smoke was coming from the east side of the lake.
Thunder Lake is located about 150 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
