A northern Alberta community declared a local state of emergency Thursday after wildfires close to it forced the evacuation of almost 1,000 residents.
The Little Red River Cree Nation declared the state of emergency a day after a wildfire burning 30 kilometres northwest of the unincorporated community of Garden River and eight kilometres north of the highway that eventually runs through it led to the evacuation order.
Garden River is about 575 kilometres north of Edmonton and 195 kilometres east of High Level.
The evacuation has seen 981 residents relocate to John D’Or Prairie, High Level and Peace River.
Alberta Wildfire said in a media release Thursday the fire, called HWF061, is classified as out of control and has grown to a size of more than 41,000 hectares. It was caused by lightning.
A fire ban is in place for the protection area, which includes most of northern Alberta and foothills regions alongside the Rocky Mountains.
The provincial agency said 92 wildfires are actively burning in the province’s Forest Protection Area, 29 of them classified as out of control. It said 692 wildfires recorded in the Forest Protection Area since Jan. 1 have burned more than 184,000 hectares.