The wildfire hazard for the Lac La Biche Wildfire Management Area is EXTREME.
A Fire Advisory is in place for the Lac La Biche Wildfire Management Area. Due to extreme hazard conditions, we are no longer issuing fire permits. Heavy burning is restricted until further notice. Safe campfires are currently allowed, but may be restricted in the coming days if conditions worsen.
A reminder that you need a permit for fireworks - and permits are not being issued under current conditions.
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.
Give careful consideration to where you might want to random camp, if you are taking an extended weekend around Canada Day. Parts of The Old Conklin Highway, or "The Miles" as it's called locally could be impacted by LWF 161.
The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 28 degrees, humidity of 30%, winds at W15, and moderate to high lightning. Although there is a chance of precipitation on Wednesday, the hot temperatures are keeping humidty levels low, and the forest remains very volatile.
We had no new wildfires today for a total of 184 fires in the area so far this season.
Here is a recap of significant fires in the area:
LWF 181 is out of control at 6.2 hectares. No change to this fire today. This fire is within the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range. There is no threat to facilities at this time, and business within the Range is as usual. Ground crews and helicopters with buckets have been working on this fire today.
LWF 175, Winifred River Fire, started Friday, is currently classified as out of control and is 12,000 hectares (significant growth today). The fire started northeast of Cowper Lake (4-26-81-2-W4) and has spread southeast and crossed into Saskatchewan. This fire is about 5 miles south of Kimowin Lake (close to the location of the wildfire from earlier in May). Extreme fire behavior prevented ground crews from working on this fire today. There was continuous crown fire today (open flame in the tree tops). We expect this fire to continue to spread driven by available fuels and winds. An aerial ignition team was successful in starting a back burn along the north and east sides of the fire on Sunday. Air tankers worked on the fire this morning as well as some additional aerial ignition took place today in an effort to steer the fire towards less flammable fuels (like stands of Tamarack trees). There are approximately 56 firefighters and eight helicopters are working on this fire.
This photo shows an ignition line designed to stop the spread of the fire by guiding it to a narrower point and directing it into less flammable vegetation.
LWF 171, approximately 60 hectares (no change from yesterday), is located at 4-12-73-8-4. Ground crews with support from helicopters with buckets worked to contain the perimeter of this fire today. There are 25 firefighters and four helicopters working on this fire today.
LWF 161, Caribou Lake Fire, started Wednesday, remains out of control at about 10,000 hectares (significant growth today to the southeast). This fire is about 40 miles north of Lac La Biche lake (1-12-75-14-W4). Wind pushed this fire another mile to the southeast today. The fire is about seven miles long currently. There are 109 firefighters and heavy equipment operators working on this fire, including seven helicopters. This fire grew overnight, which is not common for a fire unless under these extreme weather conditions. Usually, temperatures drop and night and humidity increases which calms the fire down and limits overnight growth. This weather pattern also gives firefighters time to get ahead of the fire in the early morning hours before winds and temperatures pick up and it gets burning again. Last night the temperature stayed quite high and prevented the humidity from increasing. This enabled the fire to keep burning and growing overnight, and then it took right off when the daytime temperatures started to increase. The fire was too active today to have ground crews working on it. Even helicopters with buckets were limited in their effectiveness. Today's actions focused on identifying safe points (anchor points) where crews can safely set up to work from. This fire is headed into a burn from a previous wildfire (House River Fire - 2002). We anticipate this shift in available fuel will slow the fire down, giving crews a better chance to contain it.
The image below shows a helicopter bucketing on a spot fire that crossed the dozer guard this afternoon.
The next photo shows the active fire this afternoon.
LWF 167 and LWF 169, in Cenovus territory in the Bovine area, are both on patrol status. Two other fires were extinguished today. Several other fires from earlier in the season are still active, and are either under control and on patrol status, or are being held. The Saskatchewan/David fire, from earlier in May, is active again, on the southwest edge (in Alberta, near Kimowin Lake). Sprinklers are protecting a lodge in the area. LWF 175 is burning south of this existing fire.
Totals: There are 16 active fires in the area. Four are out of control, one is being held and 11 are under control.
Outlook: We expect tomorrow to be another active day and are anticipating continued erratic and intense fire behavior exacerbated by moderate to high lightning potential. Hopefully expected precipitation on Tuesday will be enough to calm the fires down and allow ground crews more access to the fires.
Thanks for doing your part to prevent wildfire.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Forest Information Officer
780-623-9758