The wildfire hazard for the Lac La Biche area has climbed to VERY HIGH.
The forecast for tomorrow is for a high of 23, humidity of 30%, very little chance of rain, and winds at S20. The forecast is for warmer and drier conditions as the week progresses. Precipitation we received earlier in the week helped to knock down the fires, but the forest remains very dry.
There is a FIRE RESTRICTION in place for the Lac La Biche Wildfire Management Area. This means no campfires unless you are in a campground. No burning barrels, no backyard fires at this time. Permits remain suspended. Thanks for your cooperation on this. We appreciate that it's not camping without a campfire to gather around, but the forest is just too dry to take the risk at this time.
LWF 122 - Burnt Lake Fire
This fire remains classified as out of control at 31,334 hectares. It is 60% contained by dozer guard. Our crews made excellent progress today in buidling this guard. We expect to have the guard complete within 2 days. Some industry has been allowed re-entry into the CLAWR where fire is not affecting facilities. Areas within the fire are still restricted for industry staff. Questions about employee re-entry can be directed to the respective companies.
Today's fire behavior was smouldering ground fire that is burning about two feet deep. There has been some torching trees visible. Crews continue to attack hot spots, expose roots of burnt trees, and turn over and soak groundfire. Almost 300 firefighters, staff, pilots and equipment operators are working on this fire. We have crews from Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Parks Canada. See the below for our recent "fire family photo" and close up of the patches on the uniforms/coveralls.
The photo belows shows shows a well site within the burn area. Note the fire wrapped around the wellsite due to the short and tramped grass and gravel. Now's a good time to think about how you can FIRESMART your facilities to improve their chances of surviving a wildfire. For more information, visit firesmartcanada.ca
The image below shows leaning trees within the burnt area of the fire. Leaning trees can be a sign of deep smouldering ground fire. This fire compromises the root system which means trees are in danger of falling on our firefighters as they work on the ground fire.
LWF 126 - Pony Creek Fire
Pony Creek fire is BEING HELD at 3,000 hectares. The guard is 85% complete. Firefighters are working to mop up the fire from the outside fire perimeter towards the center of the fire. This is labor intensive work as the crews use shovels, axes, and hoses to dig up hotspots, turn them over, soak them and prevent hotspots from flaring up again. Helicopters with buckets continued to support the ground crews throughout the day today. There are no further values at risk.
The photo below shows an example of deep ground fire. You can see the layers in the photo - Green moss on top, a black burnt layer, smouldering fire and ash underneath. Until you dig past the top layer of ground you might not realize it's actually burning deep underground. This ground has to be dug up, turned over and extinguished. It's a back breaking, slow process. But if it's not done thoroughly, there is a chance the fire will flare up (under windy conditions) and cause more trouble. Scanning is taking place on the fire, to pinpoint these invisible hotspots.
The Rest of the Area
We had no new wildfires today. Two have been extinguished and a fire in the Crow Lake area is under control at 1.7 hectares. We have nine crews, eight helicopters and the air tankers ready to fight new fires in the area.
I did not receive a report from the Saskatchewan fire near Garson Lake today.
Your next update will be on Friday morning, unless conditions change in the meantime.
I am timing out for a few days. I will be back on Tuesday, June 9. Shannon Stambaugh will be available starting June 4, for all your information needs! Shannon can be reached at 780-623-9758. She will continue to send the daily update.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Forest Information Officer
780-623-9758