Northern Alberta wildfire prompts state of emergency

Last Updated: Saturday, May 17, 2008 | 12:13 AM ET

CBC News

The brush fire, west of Bruderheim and about 50 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, was mostly under control Friday morning, according to fire officials in Strathcona County. (CBC)

A state of emergency has been declared for a town in northern Alberta where a large wildfire is raging out of control and threatening homes.

One home has been destroyed in Newbrook, 100 kilometres north of Edmonton. Officials asked about 150 people living within a 10-kilometre radius of the community to leave.

Thorhild County spokeswoman Candace Revega said the flames were close to Newbrook, but as of 10 p.m. MT on Friday the blaze was still being held back.

"We have the RCMP helping, and we have buses and vans transporting people if they don't have their own transportation," she said.

Provincial forestry officials are using water bombers to try to contain the fire.

The blaze covered 14 square kilometres, said Anastasia Drummond, a wildfire information officer with Alberta's Sustainable Resource Development Ministry, which was assisting the county in trying to contain the blaze.

"We have sent four tankers, as well as ground crews and a helicopter," she said Friday night.

The residents were taken to an emergency shelter set up in the community centre in Thorhild, about 30 kilometres southeast of Newbrook.

Meanwhile, about a dozen people who were forced from their homes by a separate brush fire northeast of Edmonton were able to return Friday afternoon, but only to get belongings.

The fire, west of the community of Bruderheim and about 50 kilometres from Edmonton, continues to threaten about half a dozen homes.

It began Thursday afternoon and quickly grew to about four square kilometres because of winds as high as 80 km/h.

One unoccupied home was destroyed, along with a barn and some sheds.

The winds died down overnight, and the fire was mostly under control earlier Friday. But crews have not yet contained the flames, so it's not safe for residents to return, said Ken Jones, deputy fire chief with Strathcona County Emergency Services.

John Navratil, left, was one of about a dozen residents allowed to return to their homes Friday, but only to retrieve belongings. (James Hees/CBC)

"We're lucky the house is there," said John Navratil, one of the residents allowed back into his home Friday afternoon.

"Thank God for small miracles. This is a major miracle not a small miracle."

The fire had burned Navratil's workshop and damaged his antique tractors, but his house is untouched.

Hot spots still active

Crews were still working to douse hot spots using water and foam from tanks mounted on small four-wheel-drive trucks.

Navratil returned home to find his house untouched but his workshop and antique tractors heavily damaged. (James Hees/CBC)

The area is sparsely populated with a mixture of farms and acreages. Some of the properties have been left vacant by residents making way for the expansion of oil-processing plants in the area known as "upgrader alley."

At one point, fire crews were concerned about oil upgraders being in the path of the blaze, Jones said, but crews were able to keep the flames well away from any industrial area.

The fire may have started by someone doing some open burning, according to the fire inspector on the scene.

The extreme dry weather in north-central Alberta has led officials to impose fire bans in Lamont, Thorhild and Westlock counties and Edmonton.

On Thursday, Edmonton fire crews battled a grass fire in the extreme south end for several hours.

The fire was first reported around 10 a.m. in an area east of Calgary Trail and south of Ellerslie Road, and it had burned about a quarter-section of land by noon. It flared up briefly in the late afternoon before being brought under control, said Nikki Booth, spokeswoman for the city's fire rescue services.

She said up to 50 firefighters and 11 pumper trucks battled flames fed by tall grass and overgrown trees and debris, fuelled by winds above 40 km/h.

The cause is still under investigation.