County of Grande Prairie expands evacuation order as B.C. wildfire spreads into Alberta

Update: On Sunday afternoon, at around 4:30 p.m., the county again expanded the area affected by the order, as the fire continued to move northeast. 

The County of Grande Prairie expanded its evacuation order, as a wildfire that ignited in British Columbia has crossed into Alberta as of Friday afternoon.

The Kiskatinaw River fire, which started just west of the Alberta-B.C. border, entered Alberta as of 1:06 p.m. MT Friday, according to the Alberta Emergency Alert website.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service map, the fire was discovered May 28. The County of Grande Prairie, about 415 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, has been monitoring the fire, issuing its first evacuation alert on May 29. It upgraded that to an evacuation order Thursday, forcing some residents to leave their homes.

Just before 8:45 p.m. Friday, the county expanded the area affected by the order.

People living north of Township Road 700 to Township Road 740, and east of the border to Range 130, must evacuate their homes and report to the reception centre at the Hythe Community Library, at 10013 100th Street in Hythe, Alta., a hamlet within the county.

An evacuation alert, meanwhile, is still in effect for residents east of Township Road 710, from range roads 124 to 130, and north along the border to Township Road 750, until Highway 43.

The out-of-control wildfire spanned nearly 14,300 hectares around 8:15 p.m. MT Friday, the B.C. wildfire map shows.

It triggered the Peace River Regional District in B.C. to issue three evacuation orders and two alerts, the service says.