Village of Carmangay evacuated due to ‘out of control’ southern Alberta wildfire

© Provided by Calgary Herald FILE PHOTO: A gusting chinook wind caused damages throughout southern Alberta on Nov. 15, 2006. There had been a grass fire 18 km west of Claresholm.

An emergency alert has been issued for parts of southern Alberta after two wildfires began east of Highway 2 during a wind storm Sunday afternoon.

RCMP are evacuating the Village of Carmangay due to one fire, describing the blaze as “out of control” and spanning seven to 10 miles. The village, located about 60 kilometres north of Lethbridge, has a population of 242.

An evacuation centre has been opened at Claresholm Community Centre. The Town of Claresholm reported the blaze around 1:45 p.m.

Highway 520 east of Claresholm is currently closed in both directions because of the fire. Highway 2 south of the town reopened at about 4:10 p.m. after an overturned semi-trailer forced the road to close.

The second grass fire is on the Blood Reserve, west of Lethbridge.

That blaze forced the evacuation of residents of the Fort Whoop-Up area, on the east end of the Blood Reserve, and caused closures of a “significant portion” of Highway 509, according to the Blood Tribe.

An emergency shelter for the fire is being set up at the Standoff multi-purpose building.

RCMP and the Blood Tribe asked Albertans to avoid the areas.

Southern Alberta is currently under a wind watch , with a southwest wind gusting to 120 km/h in wind-prone areas, according to Environment Canada.

More to come…