Smoke blankets Alberta as fight against western wildfires continues

Wallis Snowdon · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 10, 2025 11:44 AM EDT | Last Updated: 26 minutes ago

Smoke from wildfires burning crossed Alberta has blanketed overmuch of the province, including the Edmonton region.

Edmontonians woke up to worsening aerial prime — the chiseled odor of burning wood and greeting skies cloaked successful an orangish haze. 

Environment Canada has issued peculiar aerial prime statements for the metropolis and surrounding regions, portion aerial prime warnings stay successful effect for a swath of communities crossed the bluish information of the province. 

Air prime and visibility owed to wildfire fume could fluctuate from hr to hr and arsenic fume levels increase, truthful bash the wellness risks, Environment Canada cautioned.

As of Tuesday morning, the Air Quality Health Index for the Edmonton portion was rated astatine 10+, meaning that residents are astatine a precise precocious hazard from the existent levels of aerial pollution.

Environment Canada is urging radical to bounds their clip extracurricular and to show themselves for symptoms of prolonged exposure, including trouble breathing, wheezing, thorax pains oregon terrible cough.

Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said that from B.C. to Quebec, Canadians could apt spot and odor wildfire smoke.

"We're seeing fume contiguous astir everywhere," Flisfeder said.

"When we look astatine outer imagery, we tin spot the beingness of fume stemming from these wildfires making their mode crossed the Atlantic toward the U.K. and parts of Europe."

He said the haze isn't dangerous when it remains successful the Earth's precocious ambiance but when it descends, it becomes a wellness risk. 

Flisfeder added that winds are expected to displacement successful the coming days.

A scorching season 

Smoke is drifting successful from the northwest from fires burning successful bluish Alberta arsenic good arsenic northeastern B.C.

Western Canada has faced a volatile commencement to wildfire season with explosive occurrence conditions and expanding evacuation orders straining exigency resources crossed the west.

Between 10,000 and 15,000 stay nether evacuation successful Saskatchewan and different 21,000 person been forced from their homes successful Manitoba, 1 of the largest evacuations successful the province's history.

Close to 3,000 Albertans stay connected evacuation orders.

WATCH | Crews brave the flames to support Manitoba homes nether threat: 

As of Tuesday morning, 65 wildfires were raging crossed the province, 24 of which are burning retired of control. 

Seven of the fires are considered an imminent menace to captious infrastructure oregon communities. 

Among them is simply a blaze on the Alberta-B.C. border, which has grown relentlessly for days, triggering a drawstring of evacuation orders.

The blaze, known arsenic the Kiskatinaw River wildfire, continues to pain retired of power since crossing the borderline into Alberta. 

The occurrence flared dangerously implicit the weekend, forcing an evacuation of Kelly Lake in northeast B.C., and destroying respective structures wrong the distant community. 

Aggressive occurrence behaviour Sunday day prompted the County of Grande Prairie to contented an expanded evacuation bid and alert.

The occurrence grew importantly overnight Sunday, successful what wildfire officials described arsenic a stern informing astir the continued hazard to surrounding communities.

The occurrence grew rapidly Monday and present covers 21,679 hectares.  

Drier fuels and mediocre overnight humidity betterment are expected to substance the fire, particularly successful exposed areas and spruce stands. The wildfire continues to advancement toward containment lines on the northbound side, officials said.

Red Earth East Complex

A analyzable of fires, known arsenic the Red Earth East Complex, continues to endanger a clump of distant bluish Alberta communities.

Residents of Peerless Lake, Trout Lake, Red Earth Creek and Loon River First Nation stay nether evacuation, portion astir 100 residents of adjacent Chipewyan Lake are assessing their losses aft astir fractional of the structures successful the assemblage burned.

A partition of flames moved successful connected the assemblage 2 weeks ago, temporarily trapping a firefighting unit connected scene overnight arsenic homes on with the community's wellness centre, religion and water attraction works were incinerated by the flames.

The Sousa Creek fire forced residents of Chateh to fly past week. It's unclear erstwhile it volition beryllium harmless to instrumentality to the municipality astir 850 kilometres northbound of Edmonton. 

The occurrence remains 5 kilometres southbound of of Chateh and 72 kilometres west of the Town of High Level. It has present consumed much than 41,200 hectares of forest. 

Crews battling the occurrence person faced precocious winds and parched conditions which person threatened to propulsion the occurrence toward the community. 

Firefighters and dense instrumentality crews person been moving to incorporate the occurrence on the northbound and northeastern perimeter near Sousa Creek. Shifting winds and brushed bedewed ungraded heavy successful the bush has hampered those efforts, officials said.

A smattering of rainfall showers were expected to autumn connected bluish Alberta Monday but aft weeks of hot, adust weather, conditions stay parched.

Officials caution that the occurrence information remains extreme, meaning the hazard of fast-growing, volatile fires crossed the Alberta scenery remains dangerously high.