All-terrain vehicle fire sparked provincial park blaze northeast of Edmonton, officials say

Wallis Snowdon · CBC News

· Posted: May 05, 2025 3:17 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

An all-terrain conveyance that caught occurrence successful a distant agelong of an Alberta provincial parkland is being blamed for igniting a wildfire present burning retired of power northeast of Edmonton. 

The wildfire successful the Redwater Provincial Recreation Area, which burned retired of power done the weekend, has destroyed 400 hectares and enactment adjacent residents connected evacuation alert.  

Chad Moore, occurrence main for Sturgeon County, told a quality league Monday that the blaze began aft an ATV caught occurrence heavy wrong the provincial park.

The parkland is about 2,200 hectares.

Moore said determination was nary entree to h2o successful that distant information of the park, oregon different means to rapidly extinguish the flames earlier they dispersed into the trees.

The occurrence was called successful by the rider who had attempted to extinguish the flames, helium said. It is unclear if the origin was a mechanical oregon electrical issue, Moore said.

"They did their champion to extinguish the fire," Moore said.

"I'm told that they had a lawsuit of h2o with them. They tried throwing soil connected it."

There was nary regularisation connected ATV usage successful the country astatine the time.

"I surely congratulate them connected their efforts. They did effort to extinguish it and but unluckily it had dispersed beyond." 

Moore said the recreation country is nether provincial authorities jurisdiction.

An evacuation alert remains successful effect for an country of Sturgeon County and residents should beryllium prepared to evacuate if the concern worsens.

The distant determination of the occurrence and its utmost maturation analyzable fire-fighting efforts, Moore said. 

He said the occurrence behaviour was utmost implicit the play with flying embers creating a dynamic, perchance dangerous situation for crews. 

The occurrence dispersed rapidly done the surrounding forest, moving rapidly done the treetops and moving southbound toward adjacent homes, quadrupling successful size arsenic it spread. 

Embers were being blown up of the fire, creating aggregate spot fires which past joined up into 1 larger occurrence area, Moore said.

"We are constricted successful our quality to bash that archetypal onslaught heavy successful the bush," helium said.

"And arsenic soon arsenic we spot immoderate benignant of maturation that tin endanger firefighters, past we propulsion backmost to those edges and commencement gathering that antiaircraft bound to enactment backmost in." 

The region issued an evacuation announcement Saturday evening, informing residents to hole to fly successful lawsuit conditions worsen. Shortly aft midnight, the region declared a authorities of section emergency.

One location was destroyed arsenic the flames dispersed done the agrarian farmland that surrounds the provincial park.

The affected areas see Range Road 205 to Victoria Trail; Township Road 574 to Range Road 205; and Township Road 574 to Range Road 203. 

The evacuation alert country includes areas southbound of Township Road 580 to the North Saskatchewan River and eastbound of Range Road 212 to the North Saskatchewan River.

As of Monday afternoon, the occurrence was considered 70 per cent contained. 

Moore said crews are not anticipating the bound of the occurrence to alteration dramatically connected Monday but crews are preparing for a projected displacement successful the winds done the evening and into Tuesday morning.