Wildfire alert issued for several communities in north-central Alberta

A fire south of Edmonton is being held at 20 hectares. People living in nearby Leduc and Parkland counties have been told to be ready to leave.

Wildfire alerts have been issued for several communities near Edmonton.

Alberta Wildfire issued an alert for Leduc and Parkland counties due to a blaze located near Range Road 10 and Beau Rand Estates.

The alert is in effect for everyone in the area between Range Road 11 to Range Road 281, and from the river north to Township Road 505, including Beau Rand Estates.

No evacuation order has been issued, but residents are instructed to be prepared to leave their homes.

Some residents of Samson Cree Nation were asked to evacuate their homes around 6 p.m. Sunday and seek shelter at the Howard Buffalo Memorial Centre in Maskwacis.

An alert was issued at 9:44 p.m. Saturday for the summer village of Sandy Beach, including everyone along Lakeshore Drive on the east side of Sandy Lake.

The alert was lifted around 5 p.m. Sunday as crews were able to extinguish hotspots. In a post to social media, the summer village said the fire is under control and crews will continue to monitor.

Brian Brady, director of emergency management at Sandy Beach, said he was thankful from the prompt response from teams in neighbouring Alexander First Nation as well as Sturgeon and Parkland counties.

“They did a good job. I can’t emphasize that enough,” said Brady.

The ex-firefighter said he saw flames exceed the height of trees in the area.

“It definitely was, at the early stages, a big challenge just to keep things under control.”

Brady encourages all Albertans to download the Alberta Emergency Alert app to stay up to date on possible alerts and evacuation orders.

“Just because it’s wet in your backyard, doesn’t mean it’s not wet somewhere else. It can be bone dry 100 yards away, so be careful.”

According to Alberta Wildfire, the estimated size of the blaze is about 2 hectares.

Sandy Beach is about 45 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti