Alberta declares state of emergency over wildfires
Premier Danielle Smith of the ruling United Conservative Party announced at a news conference that Alberta declared a state of emergency on Saturday after thousands of Albertans were forced to leave their homes due to “unprecedented wildfires” raging in Alberta.
On Saturday evening, at 7 p.m. ET (5 p.m. Mountain Time), more than 24,000 Albertans had been evacuated from their homes. There were 110 active wildfires in the province and 36 that were out of control. By Saturday evening, Mountain Time (5 p.m. ET), 24,000 Albertans were evacuated. There are 110 wildfires burning in the province and 36 that have not been contained.
Christie Tucker, manager of the information unit for Alberta Wildfire said that it was a very challenging day. “We had to deal with very strong winds and hot weather, which caused extreme wildfire activity.”
She also added that more firefighters have arrived from Quebec and Ontario today.
Smith said at a morning press conference that “Much Alberta has experienced a hot and dry spring, with so many kindlings, it only takes a few sparks for some really frightening wildfires to start.” These conditions have led to the unprecedented situation that our province faces today.
Brazeau County was evacuated, along with all 7,000 residents of Drayton Valley. This is 140 km (87 mi) west from the provincial capital Edmonton.
The entire Fox Lake community of 3,600 residents was evacuated as well. A fire that raged over 1,458 hectares (3609 acres) in Fox Lake destroyed 20 homes and a police station.
Smith said, “I can’t recall ever seeing multiple communities evacuated at the same time during fire season.”
She said C$1.5billion ($1.12billion) was put aside for contingencies because they knew a large amount of money could be needed to manage emergencies.
Whitecap Resources, an oil producer in central and northwestern Alberta, has said that it is working hard to ensure the safety of its staff and ensure assets are not affected.
Grant Fagerheim said, “We’re praying for rain and are closely monitoring the weather,” on Saturday.
Pembina Pipeline Corp. (PPL.TO), a company that runs oil pipelines throughout the region, said on Friday it has activated emergency response processes and incident management and is “evaluating current or anticipated operational impact”.
Pembina failed to respond to an update request on Saturday.
Smith stated that 43,000 hectares of land have burned in wildfires so far this year.
Tucker said earlier that Saturday, “This is a very unusual fire activity for us this early in the year.”
Alberta voters will be at the polls to elect a government on May 29, 2019. Smith told the public to expect that election day would go as planned.
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