OTTAWA (Reuters) – Wildfires raging in the northern part of the Canadian province of Alberta have forced the evacuation of three communities, a provincial agency said on Saturday, as the oil-rich province continues to battle five separate “notable wildfires” in separate areas.
A major forest fire is often seen as a serious threat to public safety, the environment and critical infrastructure.
Evacuation orders have been issued for the communities of John D’Or, Fox Lake and Garden River in northern Albert, which cover nearly 62,000 hectares and have a population of 5,000.
There was no mention of a threat to oil extraction from tar sands.
Alberta is in the grip of 158 wildfires, 55 of which are uncontained, meaning a fire is expected to continue to grow and a perimeter has not yet been established. Not all uncontained wildfires require evacuations of people.
“Fire activity is expected to remain intense throughout the weekend as warm and dry weather continues,” the Alberta government’s forest fire service said in a statement.
More than 200 firefighters and support personnel, 10 helicopters and 43 pieces of heavy equipment are working at the complex, the company said. The fire was caused by a lightning strike.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring British Columbia, where 319 active wildfires are currently burning, evacuation orders were issued Saturday due to an out-of-control wildfire raging between two lakes, BC Wildfire Service reported on the social media platform X.
In the past 24 hours, there have been 58 new wildfires in British Columbia, three of which are in the southern region: Shetland Creek, Aylwin Creek and Komonko Creek.
All three are in evacuation mode, the provincial government said.
“Fire activity is increasing today in southern British Columbia as thunderstorms continue to build inland and central parts of the province,” the report said, adding that nearly 1,000 firefighters from the BC Wildfire Service are also on the scene.
More than half of the forest fires are not under control.
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
