‘Perfect storm’: Alberta wildfires surge in hot and dry conditions

Hot and dry conditions are creating the “perfect storm” for fires, Colin Blair with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency said in a wildfire update Monday.

The Alberta government said in a release that 19,294 Albertans have been forced from their homes, and 26 of 90 active wildfires are considered out of control.

There are currently 15 evacuation orders in the province, a fire ban and off-highway vehicle restriction in place, and 17 Alberta Emergency Alerts.

Around 2,500 people are battling wildfires in Alberta, including about 300 soldiers, with the latter still working away at Fox Creek and Drayton Valley.

Meanwhile, a mandatory evacuation order was put in place for the town of Valleyview at 1:30 p.m., the latest in evacuations, after a fire jumped a barrier meant to slow it down.

Christie Tucker with Alberta Wildfire said it was a challenging weekend for firefighters, and the hot temperatures are expected to persist.

Strong winds in the forecast bring the likelihood of unpredictable fire behaviour, with gusts expected to reach 50 kilometres per hour.

“This will cause dangerous conditions for our firefighters on the ground,” Tucker said.

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So far this year, crews have responded to 465 wildfires burning nearly 532,000 hectares.

At this time, there are fire crews from B.C., Quebec, Ontario, Yukon, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

She says more firefighters from the United States will join them, specifically from Oregon, Alaska, Washington, and Montana.

“We do have a significant number of additional firefighters and extra resources here in the province at the moment,” Tucker said.

“We do have the ability through our interagency Forest Fire Center to request help from further afield as well. And certainly, that is an option when going out to to additional partners.”

In addition, Alberta Education will automatically exempt students evacuated due to wildfire from writing the diploma exams if they have been displaced from school for 10 or more school days and not have it count against their final grade.

“This means that a student who has been displaced from a school as a result of the wildfire for 10 or more school days, is automatically exempted from writing their diploma exams this June and not have it count against their final grades,” Blair said.

“Students can choose to write their diploma in a different community in June, or can choose to write the exam in August if they don’t want the exemption.”

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Watch: Mental health support available for Alberta Wildfire evacuees

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The government says that since the announcement of the one-time emergency financial assistance for evacuees, more than 9,400 applications have been processed.

Over $14.8 million in e-transfers has been sent to evacuees, and more than $2.5 million in debit cards has been distributed.

The assistance is for any Albertan who has been forced to evacuate their homes due to the wildfires for seven days.

Those eligible will receive $1,250 per adult and an additional $500 per dependent child under 18 years.

-With files from The Canadian Press