‘Keep those go bags tucked away for now’: Evacuation notice lifted for Slave Lake

An evacuation alert has been cancelled for the Town of Slave Lake and the M.D. of Lesser Slave River as cool, wet weather helps crews fight a nearby wildfire.

The mayor of Slave Lake is telling residents to keep their go bags tucked away as an evacuation alert was lifted for the town and surrounding area Tuesday afternoon.

“Thanks to the continued hard work of Alberta Forestry crews – and some much-needed help from Mother Nature – the wildfire is no longer expected to grow,” said Mayor Francesca Ward in a Facebook post.

Thousands of people in the Slave Lake region were put on a wildfire evacuation alert Sunday for a small blaze burning northeast of the town and east of Highway 88.

Derrick Forsythe, an information officer with Alberta Wildfire, said crews were able to put containment lines around the fire last night.

“We still have to go cool off the hot spots, but we made some positive progress on that fire,” Forsythe told CTV News Edmonton.

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While cool temperatures have blanketed the province over the last couple of days, crews are preparing for warmer and drier conditions towards the end of the week.

According to data from Alberta Wildfire, the fire northeast of Slave Lake was started by lightning. It has burned less than a square kilometre.

There are 61 wildfires currently burning throughout the province — 16 of which are considered out of control. So far this year, about 67,000 square kilometres have burned.

More than 1,400 firefighters from Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Australia and Chile are working on putting out wildfires across the province.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Amanda Anderson.