High winds caused the fire to grow to 1,000 hectares on Thursday. (Janice Johnston/CBC News)Thorhild County, north of Edmonton, declared a local state of emergency Thursday after strong winds caused a brushfire to flare up and start burning out of control.

"It's increased [by] probably a couple hundred hectares overnight from last night, and the winds and the weather ain't helping us right now," said Thorhild County Fire Chief Nick Kuzyk.

The wildfire began near the hamlet of Opal Wednesday afternoon.

Two properties were evacuated Wednesday. By 4:30 p.m. MT Thursday, all the homes in the hamlet had been put on an evacuation alert.

Aircraft tankers were laying down lines of fire retardant to protect the structures.

"If it gets within a couple of miles, we're going to have to get [the residents] out of there right away," said Brett Demary, emergency operations supervisor with Thorhild County.

Firefighters from Redwater fill a container full of water to help protect a home from a wildfire near Opal. (Janice Johnston/CBC News)"Because … it's all spruce trees and slough grass, it can move pretty fast on us."

Nearby Sturgeon County announced Thursday afternoon is now under a full fire ban.

Winds are causing spot fires near the Thorhild-Sturgeon County border, Sturgeon's acting Fire Chief Pat Mahoney said in a statement.

Mahoney said the ban will remain in effect until the region receives a significant amount of rainfall.

Walter Barabash and his wife were ordered to leave their Opal-area farm Wednesday.

"They asked us to prepare and go, and then about 10 minutes later they said 'let's go,'" he told CBC News.

"I took my pictures and packed the wife's belongings… [we] parked vehicles in the middle of the field, and that's about it."

The couple spent the night with family before returning Thursday afternoon to check their property. They won't be allowed back until the fires stop, Barabash said.

Forestry officials told CBC News that the past few days of warmer weather and strong winds have dried out conditions through most of the province.

In all 22 forest fires have started throughout the province since Wednesday.

The Opal fire is about 1,000 hectares in size. It started less than two kilometres north and west of Opal and is spreading south. There has been no loss of property so far.

About 60 firefighters from Alberta Sustainable Resource Development and 20 county firefighters are on the scene.