Evacuation orders end as wildfire near Grande Prairie being held

Fire crews in the County of Grande Prairie have begun to gain the upper hand on a wildfire that forced about 100 people from their homes over the weekend, and evacuees will be able to return home Monday night. 

In an update to residents Monday evening, the county's regional fire service and Alberta Wildfire said a wildfire burning south of the city is now classified as being held "due to the availability of air tankers, and swift and ongoing ground fire crew response."

Evacuees will be permitted to return home starting at 7 p.m., though any evacuees who wish to remain in their hotel for Monday night may do so at no cost, the county said.

Evacuees will be provided with a return-home package at the Pomeroy Hotel the county said, and they can expect to see red fire retardant on their properties due to air tanker drops used to protect homes and businesses from the wildfire.  

Additional information will be made available in the coming days regarding the process to follow for fire retardant-affected properties, the county said. 

Earlier Monday, the county said crews battling the Deer Ridge Estates wildfire made critical progress overnight, but that conditions expected in the region may challenge that progress. There is no precipitation in the forecast and crews are expecting crossover conditions, which include low humidity, elevated temperatures and high winds.

Crews have been working to contain the fire that burned out of control throughout the weekend, triggering evacuation orders as parched, windy conditions grew more extreme.  

'At the mercy of Mother Nature'

Trevor Grant, regional fire chief, said earlier Monday that the blaze has spread across more than 80 hectares.

A total fire ban for the entire county, as well as the City of Grande Prairie, came in to effect Monday morning. 

"We're really at the mercy of Mother Nature," Grant said in an interview with CBC News Monday.

"We're doing everything we possibly can to prevent it from spreading." 

Grant said crews are focused on dousing hotspots that could send embers into the air and allow the fire to spread. They are hoping to get an advantage over the fire as the region braces for a week of warm, dry weather, Grant said. 

Grant said he is hopeful that relatively calmer winds forecasted for Monday will provide some relief and give crews enough of an edge to establish a perimeter. 

An evacuation order was in effect for part of the county until Monday night, which covered a stretch of rural properties, an industrial park and two subdivisions on the outskirts of the Alberta city.

A wildfire burning north of the Deer Ridge Estates area burned out of control throughout the weekend, putting homes under threat, shutting down local roads and filling the sky with water tankers.

Grant said crews were battling extreme conditions Sunday, including 60 km/h winds that fanned the flames.

The fire, detected that morning, spread rapidly through local farmland, with grass fires fuelling the spread of the flames through the treetops of a nearby forested areas. 

By mid-afternoon, it became clear that some residents would need to leave, Grant said. 

"The wind conditions were pretty extreme and the fire was moving fairly, fairly rapidly," Grant said. 

As of Monday morning, no properties or structures have been lost, but some vehicles have been destroyed, Grant said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, he said.   

A wildfire near the Redwater Recreation Area, about 60 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, has also put residents on edge.

An evacuation alert is in effect for an area of Sturgeon County, which was expanded Monday afternoon to include any residents living south of Township 580 to the North Saskatchewan River and east of Range Road 212 to the North Saskatchewan River. According to the alert, residents in the area should be prepared to evacuate if the situation worsens.

An out-of-control wildfire in the area has triggered a state of local emergency. 

As of early Sunday morning, the fire had not crossed the North Saskatchewan River, but one home had been destroyed as the flames spread through the rural farmland that surrounds the provincial park.