Wildfire forces Louisiana town to be evacuated

The Louisiana Police Department said the city of Merryville issued a mandatory evacuation order due to a wildfire that could reach the city limits within hours. The State Police department posted on X (Twitter) that citizens have a protocol to move to another place.

The Merryville evacuation order was issued by the Beauregard Parish Sheriff's Office Thursday night. The order included information regarding where people could go to take shelter in the meantime. "There is an established shelter at the First Methodist Church in DeRidder if you need a place to shelter. There is no danger to the animals that are being kept at the Covered Arena but there should be considerations made in case this should change."

CNN confirmed that Merryville has a population of about 1,200 people. The city is located just east of the state border with Texas, about 120 miles northeast of Houston.

Similarly, the governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, reminded people of the statewide burn ban. He asked citizens to comply with the policy. "The best thing you can do to help our firefighters is adhere to the statewide burn ban. The fewer fires there are, the more resources there are available to fight them. Do not burn anything until conditions improve and the burn ban is lifted," the governor wrote.