Alberta Wildfires Trigger Restrictions, Evacuations

The Fort Nelson First Nation ordered an immediate evacuation for the IR#3 Kahntah Reserve, British Columbia authorities said.

“Anyone in the affected area must leave immediately,” they said in the statement.

Fire restrictions were in effect for the High Level Forest Area and entire Fort McMurray forest area, where wildfire danger was extreme, Alberta’s wildfire agency said. Fire restrictions limit when and where people can light campfires and bonfires.

Alberta’s wildfire agency said that as of Tuesday afternoon, there were 34 wildfires burning in the High Level forest area with 10 of them out of control, while one that was classified as out of control in Fort McMurray forest area, about eight km (five miles) northeast of industrial facilities.

“Currently there is one evacuation order due to wildfire in British Columbia issued by Fort Nelson First Nation and no properties are impacted,” the British Columbia’s Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said in an email.

Last week Suncor, Canada’s second-largest oil company, temporarily curtailed some production and evacuated non-essential workers from its 215,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) Firebag site because of a fire roughly eight km (five miles) away.

There are close to 60 active wildfires across Alberta.