‘It’s scary’: Redwater residents ready to evacuate as wildfire burns near town

Residents and evacuees in Redwater are ready to flee if the fire burning to the east gets closer to town. CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg reports.

Permanent and temporary residents of the town of Redwater are on edge as a wildfire burning to the east has them ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

On Saturday, an ATV sparked a fire in the Redwater Provincial Recreation Area. As of 4:40 p.m. Wednesday, the fire was around 2,000 hectares in size, according to the provincial wildfire map.

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In the town of Redwater, people went about their day semi-normally.

Schools were closed due to the threat of a possible evacuation, but other businesses were open, including Candy Pop’s Ice Cream Shop.

“It’s scary because we just opened this business and it was done a few weeks ago,” said Shawn Doyle, one of the store owners.

He and Jessica Doyle, the other owner, have their emergency kits packed in case the evacuation alert turns into an order.

“People are anxious, but they’ve been through wildfires,” Shawn said. “We had a wildfire across the road a few years back … people are kind of used to it … becoming desensitized to it in some ways.”

• Wildfires posing risk to several communities throughout northern Alberta

Despite the wildfire smoke being visible minutes away from the town centre, the ice cream shop saw business Wednesday, with some in need of cold comfort.

“We had three people yesterday, three customers, and each of them said that they really needed some comfort food out of all this stress,” Jessica said.

“Our shop is so colorful, we play Disney for the kids, it’s a nice gathering place. So, even if it’s only for a moment, people can come in and kind of take their mind off of what is really going on.”

Some residents were stocking up on groceries and other supplies, making sure they were ready to leave, and others were less worried, certain firefighters had the situation under control.

“Everybody who’s in charge has it under control and it’ll work out, that’s what I think,” said one Redwater resident.

Rural residents close to the fire were evacuated Tuesday and originally told to go to Redwater. On Wednesday, the evacuation centre was moved to the Morinville Leisure Centre.

• Residents close to wildfire in Sturgeon County ordered to evacuate

Evacuation orders and alerts can be found on the Alberta Emergency Alert website.