Wildfire prompts evacuation alert in Clearwater County, northwest of Calgary
Posted May 15, 2026 7:51 am.
Last Updated May 16, 2026 10:01 am.
A county northwest of Calgary has issued an emergency wildfire alert.
Clearwater County says there is an out-of-control wildfire near Highway 734, about three kilometres northwest of the Highway 584 junction in southwest Clearwater County.
This alert has also been updated to include properties west of Range Road 80, and north of the James River.
Sundre RCMP says a 10-kilometre radius of crown land has now been evacuated as the flames spread quickly.
“Campers and traffic and anyone in the back country that’s within 10 kilometres of Highway 734 near the junction should leave the area just due to the proximity of the wildfire,” said Melissa Story with Alberta Wildfire.
Cochranite Dustin Leonzio was camping in the area when it became clear the fire was spreading.
“Everything got really smoky, so we knew there was a fire out of control somewhere, but couldn’t really tell the direction,” he told CityNews. “So we packed up and got out of there as fast as we could.
“It progressed really fast… How fast it got smoky and felt unsafe was pretty obvious.”
Leonzio says his knowledge of backroads and logging roads in the area helped them get out safely and quickly.
RCMP say that blockades are currently set up along nearby highways and no one is allowed to enter the area.
“We experiencing significant winds in the area,” explained Story. “We’re seeing gusts exceeding 65 km/h which is increasing the wildfire activity and spreading smoke to nearby communities.”
“We just want people to know that we are doing everything that we can,” she continued. “These kind of things happen, especially when we see windy conditions. So we are putting a full response in effect with this fire.”
The province’s website lists the blaze as over 1,000 hectares in size.
The RCMP says these closures could remain in effect over the long weekend.
