Alberta’s premier, Danielle Smith, has declared a provincial state of emergency on Saturday due to the “unprecedented” wildfires that are currently raging in the province, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes.
As of 5 pm Mountain Time on Saturday, over 24,000 people had been evacuated, with 110 active wildfires, 36 of which were out of control. The province has been experiencing hot and dry weather conditions for the spring, resulting in a significant amount of kindling, making it easy for wildfires to start with just a few sparks.
The situation has resulted in an unprecedented wildfire crisis in Alberta. The community of Drayton Valley, including all 7,000 residents, and the entire community of Fox Lake, with a population of 3,600, were among those evacuated.
The wildfires have consumed 20 homes and the police station in Fox Lake. Christie Tucker, an information unit manager for Alberta Wildfire, stated that Saturday had been an extremely challenging day for firefighters, with strong winds and hot weather leading to extreme wildfire activity.
Additional firefighters have arrived from Quebec and Ontario to help with the situation.
The wildfires have already burned 43,000 hectares of land so far this year, which is an unusually high amount for this early in the season. Smith has put aside $1.12 billion (C$1.5 billion) as a contingency in case a significant amount of money is required for emergency management.
Despite the crisis, the Alberta election, scheduled for May 29, is still expected to go ahead as planned. Oil and gas companies operating in the region, such as Whitecap Resources and Pembina Pipeline Corp, are ensuring that their staff are safe and their assets are unaffected.
Meanwhile, Pembina Pipeline Corp has activated emergency response and incident management processes, and is currently evaluating any current or anticipated operational impacts.
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