Fox Lake, was nearly 4,400 hectares in size as of Thursday, according to Alberta Wildfire.The evacuation efforts were slow as the only way in and out of Little Red River Cree Nation is a small barge.
A line of 600 people was waiting to cross the Peace River at its busiest moment, according to Chief Conroy Sewepagaham.Around 1:15 p.m.
Thursday, Sewepagaham said the barge was close to being burned and said all workers helping to evacuate residents needed to leave.An hour later, he posted a plea to social media for those with boats to cross the river and help bring about 100 remaining residents to safety.
Sewepagaham said a “skeleton crew” was working to rescue the remaining residents.“This is our last-ditch effort to get as many people across … If we can get boats from the Williams Crossing, if we can get manpower, we need some food and some water,” he said.Helicopters, seven personal boats and a barge were on standby to continue the evacuation, Sewepagaham said in an update around 4:30 p.m.He also said at least two homes have been lost to the fire so far.In a provincial wildfire update issued just before 7:30 p.m.