Edmonton

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

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.

B.C. fire crossed into Alberta as of 1:06 p.m. MT Friday: Alberta Emergency Alert

Smoke.
Smoke from the Kiskatinaw River wildfire rises on June 5. This fire spread from B.C. into Alberta this week, forcing some people in the county of Grande Prairie to evacuate. (B.C. Wildfire Service)

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.

A region on a map is shaded red and yellow.
The County of Grande Prairie, in northwestern Alberta, expanded the area affected by its wildfire evacuation order Friday evening. This map shows which areas have to evacuate, in red, and those that have to be prepared to leave on short notice, in yellow. (Alberta Emergency Alert)

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.

Clarifications

  • A previous version of this story showed a map of the region in the county of Grande Prairie affected by evacuation advisories. The area shown combined the regions affected by an evacuation order, where people must flee, and the evacuation alert that warns residents to be prepared to leave on short notice. The map shown in the current version differentiates the two areas.
    Jun 07, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Add some “good” to your morning and evening.

Subscribe to CBC’s Your Alberta newsletter for a weekly round-up of the best news stories, video and audio content from around your province.

...

The next issue of Your Alberta will soon be in your inbox.

Discover all CBC newsletters in the Subscription Centre.opens new window

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Google Terms of Service apply.