Wabasca wildfire evacuees begin returning home
Louise Orr had been sleeping in her car since wildfire forced people to flee
Residents of the hamlet of Wabasca and the nearby Big Stone Cree First Nation have begun returning to their homes, after an evacuation order was lifted at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Many haven't been home since Sunday, when they were forced to leave as wildfires crept closer threatening their homes and safety.
"The majority of the folks from the Municipal District of Opportunity that were affected by this evacuation order are free to return to their homes," said Jamie Hanlon, a public affairs officer with the provincial government.
"We did have a number of families that left here last night. We still have approximately 100 here at Athabasca centre, and 400 at the Calling Lake centre," he said early Wednesday.
The fire in the Wabasca area has burned about 200 hectares, and was still considered to be out of control early Wednesday, said fire information officer Geoff Driscoll.
Firefighters have kept it from spreading.
The end of the evacuation order came as a relief for Louise Orr, who fled her home in Wabasca with only a few blankets and some clothes.
She had been sleeping in her car outside the evacuation centre at Calling Lake.
"It's kind of like you feel lost, because you don't know what to do and where you're getting things from," she said Tuesday.
To the south, in the Municipal District of Lesser Slave, residents in the Old Smith Highway area will also be allowed to return home, after their evacuation order was lifted as well.
Residents displaced by those two fires were among about 5,000 Albertans put out of their homes over the past few days by wildfires raging across the province.
Driscoll said early Wednesday that 33 new fires were sparked overnight, all by lightning strikes. In total, 63 wildfires are now burning Alberta, including 15 that are considered out of control.