A serious wildfire has led to an evacuation alert for Waterton Lakes National Park.

The voluntary evacuation notice was issued yesterday (September 5th) at around 6:39pm. All visitors of the park and residents of the small town of Waterton were asked to leave the area.

Parks Canada has said that all trails and water areas in the park have been closed until further notice with the entranceway and town site being the only spots still open.

The wildfire threatening the area is burning in the Flathead Valley near the border with Montana.

The extreme fire conditions also forced the closure of forested areas north of Waterton in the Crowsnest Pass vicinity.

For updates on the evacuation and wildfire dangers, you can head to the Alberta Emergency Alert website.

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