SLAVE LAKE, Alta. — More firefighting help is on its way to Slave Lake, but it will arrive too late for some parts of the northern Alberta town already destroyed by a wind-whipped wildfire.


Police say nearly one third of the town has either been destroyed or damaged after strong winds Sunday suddenly turned the flames on the town of 7,000.

All residents were ordered to leave Sunday afternoon, but the evacuation process proved difficult as smoke and flames blocked some of the highways.

No deaths or injuries were reported.

About 70 firefighters from the Edmonton area are on their way to Slave Lake to help battle the wildfires.

The province says equipment and approximately 200 firefighters from British Columbia and Ontario are also expected later in the week to help with the provincial firefighting effort.

Staff Sgt. Mike Proctor of Slave Lake RCMP said "probably 30 per cent of the structures" in town had been destroyed by the fire.

He said the fire was a sprawling nine square kilometres in size when it hit the town.

Local radio station 92.7 Lake FM reported on its website that its studio in Slave Lake — as well as the city hall and scores of other buildings — had been lost to the flames.

Nearly 30 patients at the hospital in Slave Lake were transported to facilities in other communities, said John Muir, a spokesman with Alberta Emergency Management.

Slave Lake declared a state of local emergency on Sunday and was taking in evacuees from surrounding communities.

Getting out of town on Sunday evening wasn't easy, said one Slave Lake resident, who described trying to get out of town despite massive traffic jams.

"It's crazy," said Scott, who didn't want his last name used. "We've seen a whole lot of vehicles go to the west and then get redirected back to the east."

He said the lineup to head east on Highway 2 stretched so far that it was several kilometres to the west of the town. So he said he was staying put in a parking lot to conserve gas until it was absolutely necessary.

"As long as my family and I am here, we're safe," he said, noting a black cloud covered the town.

Crews had been working since Saturday to fight two separate fires near the town, but they continued to burn out of control on Sunday due to strong winds and warm, dry conditions.

Close to 900 people living in the rural district near Slave Lake had been told earlier on Sunday to be ready to leave their homes at short notice and were later ordered out. Another 270 had already fled another fire east of the town which destroyed four homes, as well as a number of sheds and recreational vehicles.

Atco Electric confirmed it was experiencing problems in the area because the fires were damaging transmission lines.

Numerous other blazes burned throughout Alberta on the weekend.

A wildfire near Peace River forced cleanup operations at the site of a huge oil pipeline spill last month to be suspended. Plains Midstream Canada, the pipeline operator, said the decision to remove their staff was made after county officials issued an evacuation order Sunday morning.

The company said it had also shut the flow on its Rainbow pipeline, which carries crude from its Nipisi terminal to Edmonton, as a precaution.

The Lubicon Lake Nation, which is near the area, has evacuated elders, women, children and people with health conditions.

A fire on Saturday that forced the evacuation of Crimson Lake Provincial Park, which is about 150 km southwest of Edmonton, has now been contained and people have been allowed to return. The fire burned about 50 hectares.

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