The wildfire hazard is MODERATE for the Lac La Biche area.
The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 15 degrees, humidity of 70%, chance of precipitation, moderate lightning and winds NW 20 gusting to 40 km/hr. The increased humidity and potential for precipitation is helping keep the wildfire hazard at MODERATE for the next few days. Winds could be an issue tomorrow for any new fire starts in areas that do not receive precipitation. Please continue to exercise caution in the forest areas. Holdover lightning fires are likely in areas that do not receive significant precipitation.
We had three new fires plus we extinguished one fire today. There are 12 active fires in the area - seven are under control, two are being held and three are out of control. We have 15 crews and 9 helicopters as well as the airtankers positioned across the area to fight any new fires.
Here's a recap of the current fires in the area:
LWF 210, new today, is under control at .1 hectares.
The photo below shows the burnt remnants of LWF 210.
LWF 209, new today, is out of control at .5 hectares.
LWF 202 is Being Held at 66 hectares. This fire is in the Bovine area at 11-36-79-18-W4. The fire did not grow in size again today.
LWF 198, in the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range, is Under Control at 108 hectares. Crews continue to make good progress. There are no values at risk.
LWF 192 is Under Control, at 197 hectares. Dozer guard is complete around this fire. There are still some burning within the fire perimeter.
LWF 191 remains Out of Control at 268 hectares. This fire is 25 km west of Mariana Lake. This fire has not grown in size in several days.
LWF 189 is Under Control, at 103 hectares. This fire is in the Bovine area. There is guard around the entire fire.
LWF 175 is Being Held, at 15,376 hectares. This fire, which stretches into Saskatchewan, is located just to the east of LWF 192. There are no values at risk.
LWF 171 is Under Control at 45 hectares.
LWF 161 remains Out of Control at 14,012 hectares. The fire is about five miles from Highway 63. Firefighters from Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia are working together to fight this wildfire. There was smouldering ground fire and surface fire today as well as some candling trees. We hope to take advantage of the reduced fire behavior and put more ground crews in place over the next couple of days.
LWF 122 and LWF 126, from earlier in the season, remain on patrol status.
ASK 001 - Saskatchewan Fire near Garson Lake, is still active on the west side. We are monitoring this fire.
Thank You to our Assisting Agencies
There are trained wildland firefighters from all over the world assisting Alberta. Our fire LWF 161 has resources from Ontario and Nova Scotia working alongside our Alberta firefighters. Earlier in the season we had crews from Ontario and British Columbia on LWF 122. Firefighters from Australia and New Zealand arrived in Alberta a couple of days ago and are making their way to LWF 161 as well as to fires in the High Level area. Other crews are expected to be deployed to fires across Alberta in the coming days and include: South Africa, Quebec, United States, and Mexico. A big thanks to everyone for their help. This is a great example of the resource sharing agreements in place between assisting agencies.
Thanks for doing your part to prevent wildfire.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Forest Information Officer
780-623-9758