Evacuations ordered in communities along Alberta-NWT boundary due to wildfires

By: The Canadian Press Posted: Last Modified:

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FORT SMITH, N.W.T. - Evacuation orders have been issued for several communities along the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories due to nearby wildfires.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/08/2023 (1128 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

FORT SMITH, N.W.T. – Evacuation orders have been issued for several communities along the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories due to nearby wildfires.

The Town of Fort Smith, NWT, with a population of about 2,000, posted on its website on Saturday that people should leave the area in a calm fashion over the next eight hours.

The post says the decision was based on a recommendation by Parks Canada due to forecasted fire behaviour, and the same order was also posted online by the Smith’s Landing First Nation.

Airtankers work on a wildfire near Edson, Alta., in a Friday, June 9, 2023, handout photo. Evacuation orders have been issued for several communities along the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories due to nearby wildfires. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of Alberta Fire Service, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Airtankers work on a wildfire near Edson, Alta., in a Friday, June 9, 2023, handout photo. Evacuation orders have been issued for several communities along the boundary between Alberta and the Northwest Territories due to nearby wildfires. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Government of Alberta Fire Service, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

It says that Parks Canada and the NWT government will try and maintain Highway 5 access for as long as possible throughout the night.

Twenty-five kilometres south in Alberta, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo says all residents of Fort Fitzgerald, a hamlet along the Slave River, must also leave due to nearby wildfires.

Parks Canada said earlier Saturday that strong winds were forecasted to push Wood Buffalo National Park’s Fire 7 to the east, close to communities, and that residents of Fort Smith had already put its residents on evacuation alert.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 12, 2023.

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