Wildfires have forced 4,500 Albertans from home as of Sunday: AEMA

Nicholas Frew · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 01, 2025 3:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams took a infinitesimal Sunday greeting to explicit gratitude to immoderate of his constituents.

The region issued 2 wildfire evacuation orders this week — one for the hamlet of Peers, different for the communities of Mercoal and Robb — that forced radical from their homes.

"We cognize it's very, precise pugnacious to beryllium evacuated from your homes," Williams said during the county's wildfire update Sunday. "These measures are perfectly important, and I conscionable privation to convey you each for your cooperation."

As of 7:40 p.m. MT Sunday, 49 full wildfires are burning passim the province, astir fractional of which are deemed retired of control, the Alberta Wildfire dashboard shows.

Fires person triggered eight evacuation orders for assorted communities, according to the Alberta government's website.

Those orders permission 4,500 Albertans out of their homes due to wildfires arsenic of Sunday morning, an Alberta Emergency Management Agency spokesperson told CBC News. The bureau leads and oversees each exigency and catastrophe response.

Marcel Auger, reeve of the municipal territory of Opportunity No. 17, said helium was capable to alert implicit Chipewyan Lake to spot the grade of the harm to the community. Those residents are conscionable immoderate of galore displaced by fire. 

"It is looking similar we've mislaid 27 homes oregon structures successful the community," helium said successful an interrogation Sunday. 

"This includes the seniors' centre, the h2o attraction plant, the church, and the Bigstone Health Centre, arsenic good arsenic galore homes."

Auger has been a portion of the M.D. for decades — either arsenic an employee, oregon connected council, oregon present being reeve.

"This is the toughest time I've had, arsenic a person successful this community, to spot the devastation connected the ground. For these residents, that's everything," helium said. 

Around 75 radical were forced to permission Chipewyan Lake during the evacuation. Auger said it is hard for galore to set to being successful the neighbouring assemblage of Wabasca.

A Cree translator has been made disposable astatine accusation updates for residents who don't talk English.

Multiple evacuation advisories person besides been issued owed to wildfires, informing radical they person to beryllium prepared to evacuate wrong a fewer hours' notice.

Yellowhead County processing re-entry plan

Yellowhead County officials are processing a re-entry program for its evacuees, though concerns persist astir the wildfires successful the region, said Albert Bahri, the county's wide manager of protective services, during Sunday's update.

The Peers and Mercoal fires, which person each unopen down provincial highways successful Yellowhead County, are inactive retired of control, the Alberta Wildfire dashboard shows.

Some overnight rainfall dampened the flames, helping to importantly little the occurrence activity, Bahri said. 

"We request to marque definite that each of those concerns are mitigated, and that we don't airs immoderate hazard to the residents successful those areas erstwhile they return," helium said.

Bahri did not specify what the concerns are.

Smoke causing poor aerial prime successful bluish Alberta

Wildfire fume triggered the nationalist upwind bureau to contented aerial prime informing for northeastern Alberta Sunday morning.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) issued air prime statements for galore bluish parts of the province. But radical surviving successful the northeast quadrant, from the Wood Buffalo portion southbound to the St. Paul area, are astatine an elevated risk.

Multiple out-of-control wildfires are burning successful that agelong of Alberta, including the radical that makes up the Red Earth East analyzable and a ample fire southeast of Conklin, a hamlet wrong the determination municipality of Wood Buffalo that's about 280 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

The analyzable forced the M.D. of Opportunity No. 17 to contented an evacuation bid for radical surviving successful Red Earth Creek, a hamlet astir 350 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

The ECCC warnings authorities fume is causing "very poor" aerial prime and reduced visibility. It's imaginable immoderate places whitethorn spot conditions improved, but dense fume is expected done the weekend.

The ECCC aerial prime wellness index, which measures however harmless the aerial is to breathe, predicts precocious to precise precocious hazard aerial successful northeastern Alberta communities, similar Fort McMurray, done Sunday, but it is expected to amended Monday.

In Cold Lake, however, a metropolis astir 240 kilometres northeast of Edmonton adjacent the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, the aerial prime is forecast to transportation a precocious hazard done Monday astatine least, the scale suggests.

The agency's warnings accidental radical should bounds their clip outdoors, including rescheduling our cancelling sports and different events.

It besides says radical should beryllium wary of fume inhalation symptoms, specified arsenic headaches, irritation successful the eyes, chemoreceptor oregon throat, and wheezing and thorax pains.