Wet weather to provide little respite for northern Alberta wildfires

A view of a smoke plume coming off of the Caribou Lake Wildfire, near Winefred Lake, on June 3, 2025 (Photo: Alberta Wildfire)

While much of central Alberta is getting a good dose of rain in the coming days, the wet weather won’t make it up north where many wildfires are still blazing out of control.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Melissa Story with Alberta Wildfire said the northwest part of the province likely won’t see much rain.

“Northern parts of the province will likely see higher fire behaviour and increased fire danger,” said Story, adding that crews are working to contain a number of out-of-control wildfires in the area.

The Red Earth Creek wildfire complex north of Slave Lake hasn’t seen any rain, said Story.

Luckily, the Kiskatinaw River wildfire on the Alberta-B.C. border is expected to see 20 to 40 millimetres of precipitation. Story said the fire, which has burned over 26,000 hectares, hasn’t grown significantly in the last couple of days and is seeing less fire behaviour.

“We’re making some really great progress on it,” said Story.

The County of Grande Prairie lifted the evacuation order for residents north of Township Road 710 to 740, east of the British Columbia- Alberta border to Range Road 13 on Friday afternoon, but an evacuation alert remains in place.

Crews from Eastern Canada, the U.S. and Australia are still in Alberta helping to fight the 51 wildfires.

On track for a worse wildfire season than 2024

This year, Alberta has seen 551 wildfires that have burned over 650,000 hectares

There were 425 fires around this time last year that had burned just 30,000 hectares.

“We are well above where we were last year,” said Story. “When we compare to 2023, which was the worst wildfire year we saw on record, we’re at about half of the area burned than we were at that time.”

Some communities still under evacuation

Several wildfires that make up the Red Earth Creek wildfire complex near Slave Lake have prevented residents in five communities from returning home.

Evacuation orders for Chipewyan Lake, Peerless and Trout Lake, Red Earth Creek and Loon River First Nation are still in place.

Chipewyan Lake has suffered significant structural damage in the community.

The County of Grande Prairie downgraded an evacuation order Thursday as rainfall continues to stall the growth of the Kiskatinaw River wildfire.

An evacuation order for those north of Township Road 710 to 740, east of the Alberta-B.C. border to Range Road 132 is still in place.

Evacuation alerts remain for others in the area. Those under an alert should be prepared to leave within 30 minutes’ notice.

For all active evacuation orders and emergency alerts, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website.

Other wildfires of note

Highway 25 is closed between Hawk Hills and Keg River while the Slims Creek wildfire burns 30 kilometres north of Manning. Speed reductions are in place due to decreased visibility with smoke conditions.

The Twin Lakes Provincial Recreation Area near the Slims Creek wildfire remains closed. Officials say the fire has grown considerably over the last day.

Airtankers and helicopters are dumping water on the Blue Sky wildfire about 22 kilometres north of Marten Beach.

The Tulip Lake wildfire is burning 15 kilometres northeast of Fort Fitzgerald and 28 kilometres east of Fort Smith. The fire saw minimal growth yesterday due to favourable conditions but with warm weather hitting the area over the next several days, active fire behaviour is expected.

Night vision helicopters worked on the Sousa Creek wildfire near High Level last night. The fire is estimated to be over 42,000 hectares in size.

About 14 millimetres of rain significantly decreased activity with the Caribou Lake wildfire. The fire is still out of control and has reached over 69,000 hectares in size.

Fire bans in the Forest Protection Area are still in place. Check with your municipal government for local fire bans.

Information on active wildfires can be found on the Government of Alberta website.