The wildfire hazard for the Lac La Biche Wildfire Management Area is VERY HIGH. Hot, dry weather combined with isolated thunder storms and a proliferation of lighting is keeping the hazard at VERY HIGH. The forest is extremely dry. Fields and meadows may look green, but there is a layer of dry grass underneath that is very volatile. Fires that start are growing quickly, and are fuel driven. That means fires are seeking out the tinder dry grasses they need to burn. Be very careful in the forest tomorrow. Avoid unnecessary burning. Avoid or delay the use of quads and all terrain vehicles in the forest. If you must ride, stop frequently and clean grass buildup from your machine. Stomp the grass to ensure you don't leave any smouldering remnants behind that could cause a wildfire.
The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 28 degrees, humidity of 35%, moderate lightning, and winds at SW20 gusting to 40 km/hr. The concern tomorrow is with potential trouble from the gusting winds. Crews will be actioning existing wildfires early tomorrow, to get a jump on them before the winds pick up and "anger" the fire.
We had 10 new wildfires today. Plotted on the map, the fires arc across the northern part of our area, following a weather front that passed through that was accompanied by lighting.
Six fires from today have been extinguished. Of the remaining fires, two are being held. One fire is 3.6 hectares and one is .01 hectares. Two other fires are out of control currently. LWF 171, approximately 50 hectares, is located at 4-12-73-8-4. Helicopters have been bucketing on this fire since early this afternoon. This fire has been unsafe for ground crews today. LWF 174, approximately .3 hectares, is at 10-12-68-13-4. There are no values at risk from any new wildfire starts today.
LWF 161, Kirby Lake Fire, that started yesterday, remains out of control at 400 hectares. Dozers worked through the night last night, all day, and will work through tonight to establish a guard along the east side of the fire. The fire was very active today on the west flank. The photo below shows the fire burning to the west. The next photo shows the very visible smoke plume from the fire. The airtankers, helicopters, ground crews and heavy equipment worked on this fire all day today.
If you have the ability to zoom in to the above photo, you can see the wall of flames as it moves forward through the trees.
The smoke was visible for miles! Thanks to everyone who called 310-FIRE to report the smoke.
Several other fires from earlier in the season are still active, and are either under control and on patrol status, or are being held.
KNOCK IT OFF: Although lightning seems to be our number one enemy right now, I'd like to encourage you to be cautious with quads and off highway vehicles this weekend. We've seen how a lighting strike can start a wildfire. Dry ground, dry grass, hot temperatures and low humidity are the recipe for a wildfire. The smallest charge (lightning or a spark) can ignite a ground fire that will grow quickly. A spark off a quad, or a some smoulding grass that falls from a quad will become a very big problem very fast tomorrow!
Thanks for doing your part to prevent wildfire.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Forest Information Officer
780-623-9758