Overview
- The fire, which triggered evacuations Monday evening, remains just over 50 hectares and out of control as crews brace for stronger winds on Wednesday.
- About 150 families, totaling 424 people and roughly 350 pets, have registered at Whitecourt’s Allan & Jean Millar Centre for shelter and support.
- At least one home has been confirmed lost, and crews have installed structure protection around houses and key services while conducting welfare checks on animals left behind.
- Firefighters with Alberta Wildfire and municipal partners used helicopters, air tankers, and heavy equipment to build lines that dozers encircled around roughly 90 percent of the perimeter.
- The blaze sits about 3.5 kilometres southeast of Whitecourt and less than a kilometre south of Highway 43, where extreme dryness and “crossover” conditions—when temperature exceeds relative humidity—can drive sudden flare-ups.