As wildfires force thousands of Albertans to flee, farmers rush to rescue their livestock.
Carol Swap, who lives north of Drayton Valley in Brazeau County, said her cattle station was surrounded by fires on three sides.
While Swap didn’t have an evacuation order, she planned to move more than 100 cattle off her property if the fires got closer.
“It’s a bit nerve-wracking because you can’t really put together a good game plan,” Swap said on Friday.
“You just have to wait and see what happens.”
Swap said her daughter and husband are staying with her after being evacuated from Drayton Valley.
All of Drayton Valley’s 7,200 residents were ordered to evacuate the town late Thursday due to a runaway wildfire.
Swap said her family is staying calm and paying close attention to any further provincial or Brazeau county warnings.
“Until it’s obvious that we have to go, I won’t worry about it because if I worry about it, I’ll get sick,” she said.
Agricultural associations offer refuge to refugees
Residents of Evansburg, Wildwood, Lobstick and Hansonville in east Yellowhead County in west-central Alberta were evacuated from their homes on Thursday.
Michaela Shrode, a director of the Yellowhead Agricultural Society, has helped evacuees move their animals to the agricultural site. They have dozens of cattle and horses that stay in their pens and stables.
Shrode said the society was preparing to move the animals they house if fires force them to leave the center outside Edson.
“We hope not, but we don’t really know, do we?” She said, “We kind of have to be prepared for anything.”
Society has space to house more animals, but supply is a problem, according to Shrode.
“We have space, we just need food,” she said. “The concern is that people are losing their place, they are also losing their food for their animals.”
An evacuation order was issued to the nearby city of Edson on Friday night. Shrode told CBC the company is not yet to be evacuated but her home is in the evacuation zone.
Other farming societies are helping people evacuate their animals. The High Level, Mayerthorpe and Darwell & District Agricultural Society all have publicly advertised land for farmers who need help placing their livestock.
“We have sheep pens and pens in our farm barn. We have some outdoor arenas, some outdoor stables,” said Chantelle Lalonde, President of the Darwell & District Agricultural Society.
Lalonde said one of the society members also gave an evacuated family a trailer to sleep in.
Most fires are man-made
With fires burning miles away from her property, cattle farmer Carol Swamp wants people to be more careful.
Most of the wildfires currently burning are man-made, according to Alberta Wildfire.
“Everybody has to be extremely careful and watch what you’re doing,” she said.
“It’s not just your life that you care about. It’s everyone else.”
