Record-breaking hot weather in western Canada has compelled thousands of individuals to evacuate their homes, while wildfires rage in parts of Alberta and rapid snow melt triggers flooding across interior British Columbia.
By Friday (May 5), evacuation orders affected over 13,000 people in Alberta, with 78 fires burning across the region.
The Little Red River Cree Nation, encompassing three communities in northern Alberta, suffered severe impact, as the 1,458-hectare Fox Lake fire engulfed 20 homes and the police station.
Late on Thursday night, the entire population of Drayton Valley, located 140km west of the provincial capital Edmonton, received orders to evacuate.
Pembina Pipeline, responsible for operating oil-gathering pipelines in the area, has activated emergency response and incident management protocols and is currently assessing any present or anticipated operational consequences. However, no reported impacts on oil and gas producers have surfaced.
According to Christie Tucker, an information unit manager for Alberta Wildfire, there have been 348 wildfires in Alberta this year, resulting in the destruction of over 25,000 hectares of land. Tucker stated that this level of wildfire activity is significantly higher than in recent years and anticipates that the fires will intensify on Friday.
Until last week, western Canada had experienced a cold spring. However, the abrupt onset of unseasonably high temperatures, surpassing the average for early May by 10 to 15 degrees Celsius in some areas, has contributed to the occurrence of fires and flooding.