Redwater wildfire fight likely to be a challenge ‘unless we get some rain,’ officials say

Retardant is dropped on a wildfire near Redwater, Alta., in Sturgeon County in May 2025. (Source: Facebook / Margaret Newell)

On its seventh day of burning, a wildfire northeast of Edmonton remains out of control, putting nearby residents at risk.

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The size of the blaze near Redwater has breached 3,000 hectares, or 30 square kilometres.

“The fire was active again yesterday due to strong winds from the northeast,” said Alberta Forestry incident commander Gavin Hojka in an update Friday morning. Over the past two days, Sturgeon County has transitioned to sharing leadership of the wildfire response with the provincial agency.

“Despite the wind, higher humidity and lower temperatures have helped lower the intensity of the fire and allowed firefighters to make progress.”

On Friday and into the weekend, about 150 personnel and dozens of pieces of heavy equipment – plus six helicopters – will be working on containing the spread of the fire.

The county’s fire chief, Chad Moore, said the risk of fire spreading to the town of Redwater and nearby rural residences remains unchanged – and unpredictable given changing wind conditions.

A total of 56 homes closest to the fire have been evacuated, although some 80 more are on alert to leave within an hour’s notice.

The officials on Friday encouraged evacuees to register at the reception centre in Morinville so that they would be eligible for financial support if the evacuation timeline is extended.

One structure has been confirmed destroyed by the fire; assessment teams are still working to determine the extent of damage.

An update issued Friday night said the teams completed 23 property inspections and confirmed none of those showed “significant exterior fire damage.”

The forecast suggests wildfire activity over the weekend could be less volatile, but a significant amount of rain is needed to lower the fire danger.

“Today we’re looking at surface and ground fire… but we’re not anticipating the running crown fire that we saw on the first few days of this fire. So it’s allowing the crews to get a good handle on the conditions and make some good progress today,” Hojka said.

“As we go forward, it does get drier and warmer in the coming days, so we will be challenged going forward unless we get some rain.”

Of the province stepping in to assist with the wildfire response, Moore said, “Up till now, our Sturgeon Regional Emergency Management partnership group has been working around the clock for up to 18 to 20 hours a day sometimes, and ultimately, our team is very tired. We’re very happy to see the support come in from the province, as well as municipalities around the province responding to assist us.”

The fire is believed to have been ignited by a quad in a provincial recreation area near Redwater the evening of May 3. Officials say the quad operator took correct action and contacted the county right away, but due to its location, firefighters could not put it out before it spread.

Although there are several wildfires burning throughout Alberta, the blaze near Redwater is the only one keeping an evacuation order in effect.