Wildfire Update
There we no new wildfire starts in the Slave Lake Forest Area today. Yesterday we had four new wildfires, three were located within the community of Wabasca. The municipal firefighters of Wabasca were quick to action these three fires and alongside our firefighting resources they were able to quickly extinguish all three of them. Thanks to all for their dedication and hard work. This photo was taken by Denis Carnochan of Wabasca while he watched the firefighting in Wabasca May 16, 2016.
SWF-060 was spotted by one of our look out towers around 6 p.m. May 16, 2016. The wildfire is located 12 kilometres south west of High Prairie, no communities are being threatened. The fire is 2.75 hectares in size and is considered under control.
Otter Lakes Wildfire Update - The Otter Lakes wildfire is located approximately 36 kilometres northwest of Red Earth Creek. Communities are not being threatened. Firefighters, heavy equipment and helicopters continue to fight this wildfire lead by an incident management team. The Otter Lakes wildfire is now considered as under control.
Since April 1st there have been 62 wildfires in the Slave Lake Forest Area and the total area burned over 2007.31 hectares. Since April 1, 2016, Alberta has recorded 444 wildfires in the Forest Protection Area that have burned a total of 299,785.88 hectares.
Please be careful
Wildfire hazard conditions across the province have been very high to extreme for several weeks. It doesn't take much for a wildfire to ignite and to quickly spread in these conditions. This photo is of a fire that was started with matches in the dry grass.
Click here to view the Wildfire Situation in Alberta.
Slave Lake Forest Area Forecast - Here comes the upper low!
The forecast for tomorrow is for temperatures in and around 16 to 22 degrees Celsius with winds expected to be from the north west around 15 kilometres per hour. Wednesday evening could see thundershowers develop and then we are in for moderate to heavy rain (and even possibly snow) over Thursday, Friday and Saturday with low temperatures and gusty north to north east winds of 20 to 25 kilometres per hour.
The fireban will be in place until further notice. Every precaution is being taken to ensure no new preventable fires are started in the coming days that will put additional strain on the province's firefighting resources.
- If Albertan's are witnessing restricted OHV activities they can call the Report a Poacher Line at 1-800-642-3800.
- For more information you can visit emergency.alberta.ca
We encourage Albertans to stay up to date on the current fire ban and OHV restriction situation by visiting the Alberta Fire Bans website or call the Wildfire Information Line for updates 1-866-394-3473.
Unless conditions change, you can expect your next wildfire update on May 17th.
Tanis Blocka -Wildfire Information Officer
Mobile: 780.516.1347 Tanis.Blocka@gov.ab.ca
Report Wildfires 310-FIRE (3473)
