Wildland firefighters temporarily trapped in remote northern Alberta by wildfire

Wallis Snowdon · CBC News

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

Firefighters battling a blaze successful a distant bluish Alberta community were temporarily trapped Thursday as 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 arsenic baking heat, terrible thunderstorms and battering winds fanned the flames. Air prime alerts person been issued crossed astir of Alberta arsenic fume blankets the province.

Eight firefighters had to structure successful place and hold to beryllium rescued arsenic flames moved into Chipewyan Lake, astir 450 kilometres northbound of Edmonton. 

The afloat grade of the harm to Chipewyan Lake is not known but officials said Friday that the community's h2o attraction works has been destroyed. 

Sheltering from the flames

According to Alberta's Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen, the firefighters were responding to a occurrence erstwhile they temporarily mislaid vigor interaction conscionable aft 8 p.m.

The firefighters had to instrumentality screen successful the assemblage overnight, arsenic efforts to extract them utilizing nighttime imaginativeness exertion was stymied by dense smoke. One squad took screen successful a occurrence station, the different successful a section school. 

Emergency officials with the section municipality say the firefighters are present safe. 

According to a connection from the exigency absorption squad for the Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 issued Friday, the firefighters yet drove their mode out, making their mode to the hamlet of Wabasca, astir 140 kilometres to the south.

"Aircraft was incapable to onshore owed to smoky conditions, however, the roadworthy was determined to beryllium harmless for the firefighter crews to thrust retired of Chipewyan Lake," officials said. 

A 20-man forestry unit was sent to assistance the crews navigate the roadworthy which had been blocked by downed trees, officials said.

The unit awaiting rescue was made up of 4 firefighters with the municipal territory and 4 provincial wildland firefighters. Municipal officials said they were notified of ongoing rescue efforts around 9 p.m. Thursday aft the occurrence had moved into the community.

Officials with Alberta Wildfire, the province's wildfire-fighting agency, person declined to remark connected the rescue.

Loewen is expected to supply much details aboriginal Friday. Officials said they volition survey the harm successful item arsenic soon arsenic it's harmless to bash so.

WATCH | The occurrence upwind signifier everyone is watching: 

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 Friday, an out-of-control fire southwest of the assemblage had grown to 10,000 hectares, multiplying successful size from 1,730 hectares the time before. 

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."