Dene Tha' First Nation hopes to lift evacuation order this week, Chief says

Nicholas Frew · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 15, 2025 7:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Dene Tha' First Nation, successful northwestern Alberta, has a re-entry program for wildfire evacuees that it hopes to execute successful the coming days, according to Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza.

The First Nation issued an evacuation bid much than 2 weeks ago, connected May 29, due to the Sousa Creek wildfire, which is burning respective kilometres southbound of the assemblage of Chateh, astir 660 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

The occurrence is inactive retired of power arsenic of Sunday afternoon, according to the Alberta Wildfire dashboard. But Hooka-Nooza told CBC News that the fire's bound has been held 5 to 8 kilometres from Chateh.

The First Nation developed a re-entry plan, which it had hoped to enactment into enactment Sunday, helium said. But present the anticipation is to commencement returning radical to the assemblage Tuesday.

The program is simply a phased attack that would strategically let radical location implicit a three-day period, with radical who person respiratory wellness concerns arriving last, Hooka-Nooza said.

Wildfires forced thousands of Albertans from their homes earlier this month. But communities person precocious lifted evacuation orders and alerts amid caller chill temperatures and rainy weather.

"It's been a invited reprieve from the hot, adust conditions that we person seen erstwhile to this, that did ignite and dispersed a batch of the fires that are burning crossed the province," Melissa Story, an Alberta Wildfire provincial accusation officer, told CBC News Sunday morning.

Alberta Wildfire reported 57 full progressive wildfires passim the state arsenic of 4 p.m. MT Sunday, astir 40 per cent of which retired of control, its dashboard shows.

Most of Alberta has a debased oregon mean occurrence danger, the dashboard shows. But immoderate pockets, including the High Level Forest Area successful northwestern Alberta, wherever the Sousa Creek occurrence is burning, inactive person an elevated risk.

The country hasn't had rainfall similar the different regions, but determination is immoderate precipitation successful the forecast this week, Story said.

"We'll person to hold and spot what really accumulates from it," she said.

Hooka-Nooza said the upwind successful different regions allowed much firefighting resources to beryllium sent to the area.

Although the occurrence information successful astir places has dropped, Story noted that determination is inactive a batch of clip near earlier wildfire play ends successful October, and said the imaginable occurrence hazard tin alteration rapidly based connected the upwind conditions.