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A wildfire burning out of control in north-central Alberta triggered an evacuation order for part of Woodlands County late Monday afternoon, including the West Ridge subdivision.
An Alberta Emergency Alert was issued shortly after 5 p.m. to inform residents of the evacuation order.
As of 7:45 p.m., the fire was burning 3.5 kilometres southeast of Whitecourt, Alta., and was just one kilometre away from Highway 43, according to Alberta Wildfire. Whitecourt is located about 180 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
WATCH | One evacuee says he doesn’t know if his home is still standing:
As of 7:40 p.m., Woodlands County officials said the evacuation order was in effect for people “south of Highway 43, between West Ridge subdivision (Range Road 114), east to and including Range Road 111A in Woodlands County.”
All residents in the area were told they must leave immediately, and to take pets, important documents and medication.
Officials said evacuees should register at a reception centre that was set up at the Allan & Jean Millar Centre in Whitecourt.
By 7:15 p.m., the fire had grown to between 55 and 60 hectares in size, according to Dave Kusch, the reeve of Woodlands County.
Late Monday night, Kusch said 97 wildfire evacuees had registered at the reception centre in Whitecourt.
“It’s a lot of dense subdivisions, … so a lot of homes, a lot of smaller properties and it’s not very green,” he told CBC News while explaining what homes were evacuated.
“It just took off. A little bit of wind and the heat and the dry — it just went very fast.”
Evacuee Cage Trigg said he didn’t have enough time to find his cats before he had to leave.
“[I] had enough time to grab my dog and grab a couple things and get out of there,” he told CBC News.
Trigg said the situation changed very suddenly.
“It’s affecting a lot of, you know, my home, my neighbours, my community … every minute counts and the fire doesn’t stop at a community’s borders.”
Whitecourt Mayor Ray Hilts told CBC News he left a council meeting in Whitecourt and could see the fire from the town.
“[It’s] right there. And you know, there’s lots of smoke, especially dark smoke, which would indicate a pretty active fire,” he said.
Hilts added that he saw water bombers working on the fire Monday evening too.
According to Alberta Wildfire, firefighters, helicopters and airtankers are actively fighting the fire.
“Firefighters are observing extreme fire behaviour and will continue suppression efforts alongside aircraft into the night,” Alberta Wildfire wrote in an update at 7:45 p.m.
“Night-vision-equipped helicopters have been requested for the overnight period when fire behaviour is expected to be lower due to cooler conditions.”
A spokesperson for Alberta Wildfire said an update on the situation is expected at about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters late Monday night, Kusch said he was told weather conditions are expected to be more favourable for firefighters on Tuesday.
He said crews working overnight on the blaze are “trying to build a guard around the back side of the fire” and plan to work on the fire all night.
Kusch added that he believes the number of evacuees could become “a lot higher” as he has heard a number of area residents had left but not yet registered at the reception centre in Whitecourt.
