Firefighters trapped in remote northern Alberta as wildfires rage across the province

Wallis Snowdon · CBC News

· Posted: May 30, 2025 9:59 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

Firefighters battling a blaze successful a distant bluish Alberta municipality became trapped Thursday arsenic raging wildfires closed successful connected communities crossed the province, forcing thousands to flee. 

Fires raging successful cardinal and bluish Alberta grew progressively volatile Thursday, forcing a caller question of evacuees to fly to information arsenic baking heat, terrible thunderstorms and battering winds fanned the flames.

According to Alberta's Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen, eight wildland firefighters were forced to "shelter successful place" and hold to beryllium rescued arsenic flames moved toward Chipewyan Lake, astir 450 kilometres northbound of Edmonton.

In a connection posted to societal media astir midnight, Loewen said the firefighters were responding to a wildfire erstwhile they temporarily mislaid vigor interaction conscionable aft 8 p.m.

They had to instrumentality screen successful the assemblage overnight, Loewen said.

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One squad was sheltering astatine the occurrence station while the different is harmless astatine the section school, which was designated arsenic the community's exigency shelter, Loewen said.

"We are moving connected a program to extract each 8 unit utilizing NVIS (night vision), though earlier attempts were constricted by dense smoke," Loewen wrote. 

"There are preliminary indications that determination is immoderate harm to structures successful the community. At this time, the afloat grade remains unknown."

As of Friday morning, it remained unclear if the firefighters had been rescued. 

Loewen said updates connected the stranded firefighters would beryllium provided arsenic they go available. CBC News is waiting connected further details from officials with Alberta Wildfire, the province's wildland firefighting agency.

Chipewyan Lake, which is lone accessible by a azygous manufacture entree road, was evacuated Thursday.

The community, location to astir 75 people, was evacuated successful May 2019 and successful May 2023. 

Two out-of-control wildfires are moving in connected the community. 

One is approaching from the southwest, and arsenic of Thursday afternoon, had burned much than 20,000 hectares. The different is coming successful from the northbound astatine much than 3,000 hectares. 

A set of fires is burning crossed the distant portion of bluish Alberta, forcing much than 300 radical surviving successful Red Earth Creek arsenic good as 1,300 residents of Loon Lake, Peerless Lake and Trout Lake. 

More than 50 wildfires are burning crossed the state Friday morning, with astir 30 burning retired of control. A hot, adust spell has strained efforts to incorporate them. Firefighters person battled increasingly extreme and unpredictable fire behaviour successful caller days.

New evacuation orders

Within a substance of hours connected Thursday evening, a drawstring of caller communities were forced out.

Yellowhead County issued an evacuation bid to radical surviving astir the hamlet of Peers, astir 165 kilometres westbound of Edmonton. As of Thursday afternoon, a wildfire was burning retired of power astir 1 kilometre southbound of the community. 

Some residents of Westlock County person besides been told to fly due to the fact that of a occurrence successful Hubert Lake Wildland Provincial Park, which spanned 900 hectares.

Dene Tha' First Nation issued an evacuation bid for residents of Chateh, a assemblage astir 660 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. As of Thursday, an out-of-control occurrence astir 20 kilometres southwest of the assemblage had grown to astir 1,730 hectares.

Familiar with fire

After years of destructive Alberta wildfire seasons, it is not the archetypal clip galore of the evacuees person been forced from their homes.

The 1,300 residents of Swan Hills, northwest of Edmonton, were ordered earlier this week to evacuate owed to a wildfire that has consumed much than 7,800 hectares and drawn wrong 8 kilometres of the community. It was evacuated owed to wildfires successful 2023. 

Dene' Tha First Nation, successful the northwest country of Alberta, issued an evacuation bid Thursday evening for the assemblage of Chateh.

The assemblage experienced a devastating flood successful 2022 and was nether menace from wildfires successful 2023 and 2024. 

Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza said a occurrence burning astir 10 kilometres distant from Chateh forced much than 900 residents to evacuate connected backmost roads.

The occurrence had blocked Highway 58, the main road to High Level, which forced evacuees to instrumentality a 230-kilometre circular travel connected gravel roads to a information checkpoint successful Bushe River.  

Even earlier the evacuation bid came, radical were acrophobic astir the approaching fire, Hooka-Nooza said. 

"The upwind was blowing toward the community," helium said Thursday.

"Some radical were calling, concerned, remembering the events that they had to spell done past year.

"So they indispensable beryllium successful panic mode. But the main happening is, our radical is helping them get retired of the community, wherever they volition beryllium safe."