Please do not report smoke or flame from within an active wildfire area. Firefighters are being diverted from essential tasks when responding to existing fires reported by the public. You may see smoke or flame within the existing boundary of a wildfire, this is normal.
If you see smoke or flame outside of an active fire area, report it to 310-FIRE. If you or your property is in immediate danger, call 911.
Previous Edson Forest Area Updates - Click here
Local forest officer Markus is part of the overhead team being the the eyes in the sky. He's surveying wildfire activity, keeping watch on heavy equipment and firefighters on the line. (May 26, 2023)
After thorough planning, AB Wildfire and U.S. firefighters are considering the use of a controlled burn operation. This will only occur if all weather, wind and other requirements are met. The methods used can include aerial ignition using helicopters between the southern edge of the EWF040 fire and the Brazeau River.
This activity may possibly begin today May 26, 2023 sometime this afternoon and continuing over the next several days as conditions permit safe and controlled burning operations. All safety precautions will be in place prior to start.
The goal of this operation is to remove the available fuel between the fire’s edge and the containment line. This strategy slows down and helps limit the spread of the wildfire by decreasing the amount of fire perimeter that must be managed by firefighters.
Firefighters will closely monitor and evaluate the situation as conditions change. In preparation for these operations, fire suppression equipment and firefighters will be in position to extinguish any flame that may be near the containment line.
Note that increased smoke from this wildfire will be visible from surrounding communities.
A fire ban remains in place for Fire Control Zones 13, 14, and 16 FACTSHEET | MAP in the Edson Forest Area. All other areas within the Edson Forest Area are currently under a fire restriction FACTSHEET | MAP, which does permit campfires within designated campgrounds on private and public lands in designated day use areas, but not campfires in backcountry or random camping areas.
An OHV restriction remains in place for Fire Control Zones 13, 14 and 16 - FACTSHEET | MAP.
Screenshot from the Albertafirebans.ca website. The orange section indicates a fire restriction which means you can only have a campfire on private land or in a designated campground, if a fire ban isn't in effect. The red section indicates a fire ban which means you cannot have a campfire in either private or public land (back country). The red also indicates an OHV restriction. ** Please see factsheets above for more information regarding fire restrictions, bans and OHV restrictions. (May 27, 2023).
Be advised that Alberta Parks has it's own set of fire ban levels, please visit their website for more information.
FIRESMART BEGINS AT HOME
Protecting your home starts with simple actions.
There are many factors that may impact your property's risk to wildfire. FireSmart Canada has great videos that you can view on various topics. You can check out these videos by clicking here and viewing their videos on YouTube.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON WILDFIRES IN OUR AREA
**Bold indicates new or important information.
The area continues to have limited resources due to these exceptional times. We're sharing valuable resources with many other wildfires in the province but continue to work on and monitor the following wildfires in our area: WCU001, WCU002, EWF035, EWF031, EWF039, EWF037, EWF040 and new starts that are detected.
Firefighters, aircraft, and heavy equipment have been working in conjunction with county and municipal firefighting services as aggressively as possible to make progress on these wildfires while the conditions have been favorable. Despite all of this hard work, there are still hundreds of kilometers of uncontained wildfire perimeter and fire behaviour forecasts indicate that there may be growth on some of the wildfires throughout the Edson Forest Area.
Lingering smoke can still be visible in some areas and in affected communities. Smoke inversions can trap air near the ground causing dangerous driving conditions and impacting nearby communities. Please use EXTRA CAUTION WHEN DRIVING IN SMOKY CONDITIONS!
While we always appreciate people calling in to report wildfires, the large volume of calls we are currently receiving is diverting our resources away from other essential tasks. As always, please still call 310-FIRE if you see smoke or flame that looks new and potentially unreported, but assume that large columns of smoke and burned over areas have already been detected and reported.
Visit our Wildfire Dashboard to view active wildfires and their stats on the wildfire dashboard.
All wildfires in Alberta are investigated and these wildfires remain under investigation. To learn more about wildfire classifications, click here.
ACTIVE WILDFIRES
PEMBINA WILDFIRE COMPLEX - EWF031/039, RWF034/040
Today, there are 127 firefighters and IMT support staff being shared between all fires on the Complex. There are 60 pieces of heavy equipment, and 27 helicopters assigned to the complex.
Approximately 20 airtankers and helicopters are busy providing aerial suppression support on the excursion that occurred yesterday on the northeast side of EWF031.
Today roads continued to improve with the warming and drying conditions which permitted the crews to continue working directly on the fire line using tools and water to mop up, secure, and fill in some of the gaps between the fire and the containment lines. Dozers were creating guard on both the northern and southern edges of the Pembina Complex. They continue to “button up” and secure the north end of the fire.
Fire behavior started out as moderate throughout the morning and early afternoon with stable temperatures and moderate relative humidity. Cloud cover decreased temperatures and increased humidity. Thunderstorms with active lighting moved into the area this afternoon with increasing winds. Surface fire was observed earlier in the day followed by significantly more fire activity in the afternoon including crowning and spread on EWF031.
Warming and drying conditions WILL continue throughout the weekend. Any spark can start a wildfire in the dry grasses in these conditions.
EWF031 was detected on May 4 and is located 25 km west of Lodgepole, 20 km northwest of Brazeau Dam and 14 km southeast of Edson. The fire is classified as out of control and is estimated to be 124,051 in size. This number will change due to increased fire behavior that occurred today. Any fire growth today was well within fire contingency containment lines.
The excursion on the northeast portion of EWF-031 has extended this afternoon to 2 to 3 kilometers from the fire perimeter. Aircraft has been working on the excursion all afternoon including air tankers. The team is closely monitoring the progress of the fire. The fire is located approximately 17 km south of Highway 16, to the east of Minnow Lake.
There has also been a new wildfire start (EWF050) that is currently one ha in size and is being actioned by crews and helicopters. The approximate location is 3 km west of Highway 753.
For more accurate location, please visit Alberta Wildfire Status app.
Yesterday afternoon because of the rising temperatures and lower relative humidity, an approximately 25 ha excursion occurred within the dozer guard creating visible smoke, torching, and crowning. The location is between the NE fire edge and the about 15 km east of Minnow Lake, and south of Kwaz Road, specifically Sub Section 1 of Section 1 in T50 R13 W5. A heavy air tanker and two scoopers along with helicopters using buckets actively worked the fire into the evening. Several helicopters worked on that area throughout the day. Dozers are moving into the area to surround the excursion. Tomorrow ground crews are scheduled to work on that part of the fire to improve the dozer guard.
There is a containment line on the north side of the fire working downwards towards 6 Mile Road as well as a containment line located south from Dora’s Corner (completed several days ago). Both lines will have continued air support as visibility allows, and it is safe for aviation resources to operate to perform water drops.
EWF039 located near Carrot Creek, is currently being held. The fire is currently estimated to be 165 ha. The fire is fully wrapped in containment line and is a kilometer away from the Carrot Creek lookout tower. Crews successfully left the area and have been repositioned on fire EWF031. Personnel are continuing to monitor the area available to respond if necessary.
RWF034 is located near the O'Chiese Reserve and classified as out of control. The fire is currently estimated at 87,108 ha in size. The increased size is attributed to growth that has been observed over the last couple of days and due to more accurate mapping.
Dozer guard construction continues from the south end of the Brazeau Reservoir then proceeding west along the south shore of the Brazeau River to the southwest corner of RWF040, then proceeding north. Preparations continue for a controlled burn between the southern edge of RWF034 and RWF040 and the Brazeau River. The operation will take place sometime this week when conditions are safe for allowing the operation to proceed. The conditions yesterday were not safe for conducting the operation.
Effective May 23, 2023, around 16:00hrs, the evacuation order for the O’Chiese FN was lifted and there are no alerts in place.
RWF034 and RWF040 have connected and will be managed as one fire although they will be tracked individually for the time being.
RWF040 The fire is being monitored by firefighters and support staff assigned to the complex and can respond if necessary. The fire is currently estimated to be 5,089 ha in size. Some smoke was observed within the fire line which is to be expected with the trend of warming and drying conditions. Past growth occurred mostly to the west. The Blackstone Lookout Tower in the area is currently not at risk.
By: Kent Romney, Pembina Complex.
If you have any questions or concerns about the PEMBINA COMPLEX please call the Area Wildfire Information Officer: Caroline Charbonneau at 780-740-1341
The excursion on the northeast portion of EWF-031 has extended this afternoon to 2 to 3 kilometers from the fire perimeter. (May 27, 2023)
DEEP CREEK WILDFIRE COMPLEX – EWF035, WCU001 & WCU002
WCU001 was detected on April 29 and remains classified as out of control. The wildfire is estimated to be 7,281 ha in size, no new growth was recorded outside the fire perimeter. The wildfire zone is located southeast of Entwistle and west over the Pembina River where it spread north and travelled over Highway 16. The wildfire is parallel with Highway 16 and moved further west where the wildfire spread just north of Wildwood and now rests at Chip Lake.
WCU002 was detected on the evening of April 29 and is a mutual aid wildfire located on both sides of Highway 22, north of Highway 16. The wildfire is currently burning out of control. The wildfire is estimated to be 2,400 ha in size.
There was no new growth outside on either of these wildfires and very little fire activity was observed. Firefighters made good progress again today on containing the wildfire and "mopping up", meaning their putting out hotspots.
Patches of unburned vegetation may continue to burn inside the perimeter. Firefighters will often use an indirect attack approach to these challenging wildfires, letting them burn up to a natural break such as a road or a river. This ensures that the remaining vegetation within doesn’t continue to burn later in the season. Residents may see smoldering and flare ups at times within the perimeter. This is a normal occurrence until firefighters contain the fire perimeter to ensure it doesn’t grow, then work their way from the outside edge inwards. Firefighters will need to search for these hotspots, sometimes digging into the ground with their hands and feeling for heat. They use hand tools to dig the spots out and use water to extinguish them. This process can also cause steam which may look like smoke. Simply putting water on a fire does not extinguish it. This process can take a long time and residents can expect that the fire will remain "out of control" until firefighters are confident that the fire is contained. At that time, the status will be changed to "being held" while they work towards extinguishment.
Deep ash pits and burning peat are dangerous. We ask residents to be extra cautious near burnt areas.
EWF035 was detected on May 5. ** The wording of the location of the wildfire that was described on the first night and was incorrect and reviewed today - CORRECTION - The wildfire was detected 4.3 km north of Twp Rd 560, 7.5 km east of East Bank Road, and 6 km south of Twp Rd 570. We invite anyone who would like to see the exact location on a map to visit our dashboard by clicking here.
This wildfire is classified as out of control and estimated to be 20,996 ha in size. The wildfire is south of Township Road 570, has burnt down to the south and continues to site two kilometers north of the railroad track in Niton Junction. The fire moved across the Range Rd 123 and burnt up to the Lobstick River.
Weather and available fuel for the fire to consume are important factors that influence fire behaviour. Wind, humidity and temperature are key factors in fire behaviour. Hotter temperatures, stronger winds and lower moisture in the air all contribute to creating an extreme fire hazard. Such conditions allow a wildfire to start quickly and spread extremely fast. These kinds of wildfires are dangerous and difficult to bring under control.
We do anticipate that fire behaviour will increase during the “peak burning period”. This is normally mid-afternoon, when temperatures are hottest and relative humidity drops. Fire activity tends to slow down in the morning and late evenings when temperatures are cooler and humidity levels are higher.
We anticipate temperatures in the low to mid 20s with 40% relative humidity in the next few days. This should help keep fire activity low to moderate on the complex during non-peak burning times. Winds are expected to be light tomorrow, 15km/h from the west-northwest on Sunday but shifting from the northwest 15-20 km/h gusting up to 35. The lack of precipitation, warming temperatures and increasing winds are creating some fire behaviour. Firefighters were responding to flare ups within the interior of the wildfire perimeter today. Some precipitation is in the forecast, however we'll need much more precipitation to significantly improve the current dry conditions.
Today, wildland firefighters continued to work with heavy equipment to contain the wildfire on the south sections of the fire. The military who are assisting AB Wildfire and the hotshot crews from the U.S worked on the east-south-east side of the fire where hotspots were prevalent. Helicopters with water buckets were also assisting the firefighters with their efforts. Helicopters with buckets were working near Sunset Lake and other areas around the east side of the fire. The heavy equipment is having difficulty in some potions of the wildfire due to wet areas but making good progress and are nearly done containing the south side.
The perimeter from the northeast of the fire towards the northwest was cool again today with little to no fire activity. From the northwest down the East Bank Road and towards the southwest, very little activity was also noticed in these areas. Firefighters are confident that the whole north and west boundary of the wildfire, down East Bank Road is now contained and expect that the containment line wouldn't be challenged if the winds pushed the wildfire towards that direction again.
The complex has 104 wildland firefighters, four helicopters, 26 pieces of heavy equipment and 25 overhead staff that are part of the incident management team and crew supervision. The 30 Canadian military personnel and their overhead who were assisting our efforts depart tomorrow. Additional resources are expected to arrive in the coming days.
By: Caroline Charbonneau.
If you have any questions or concerns about the DEEP CREEK COMPLEX please call the Wildfire Information Officer - Caroline Charbonneau at 780-740-1341
WILD HAY WILDFIRE COMPLEX - EWF037 and EWF040
EWF037 is being held at 578 ha and EWF040 is being held at 684 ha. There are multiple wildfires located south of the Little Smoky River, north of the Wild Hay River and east of Hwy 40 north. These also include the areas near the Willow Haul Road and the Jack Wright Road north of Hinton. These wildfires were formerly reported as five separate fires, but due to more accurate GPS measuring, have been determined to be two larger fires.
There has been no perimeter growth on this complex is several days. Smoke and flame may still be observed within the interior of both EWF037 and EWF040. This complex is now being patrolled and monitored.
PUBLIC WILDFIRE MAPS
Visit our Wildfire Dashboard to view active wildfires and their stats on the wildfire dashboard.
Deep Creek Wildfire Complex (EWF035, WCU002 and WCU001) May 25, 2023 - public map - Click here.
Pembina Wildfire Complex (EWF031, EWF039, RWF034, RWF040) May 23 , 2023 - public map - Click here. *this map does not show other wildfire nearby.
Edson Forest Area Fires May 23, 2023 - public map - Click here.
Note: The wildfire perimeter map is an estimate based on measurements such as GPS, aerial scanning and satellite imagery. This estimated perimeter can change as more accurate measurements become available. Areas within the fire perimeter may not have been affected by wildfire.
WILDFIRE LINKS AND TOOLS
There are multiple EVACUATION ORDERS & ALERTS in the Province. Please visit Alberta Emergency Alerts or your community webpage for more information.
For road closure information, please visit: 511.alberta.ca
The NASA FIRMS Fire Information website is a great resource to give an idea of the location of wildfires in the area, but it should be noted that this data is based on interpolation and often can make a wildfire appear larger than it actually is.
Wildfire smoke is a tool used for the location of smoke firesmoke.ca
DO NOT FLY DRONES NEAR WILDFIRES!
The use of recreational drones over wildfires in Alberta is dangerous, illegal and could result in a fine of up to $15,000* for putting aircraft and people at risk. Please give Alberta firefighters the space they need to do their jobs safely. *Transport Canada
COMMUNITY EMERGENCY INFORMATION | EVACUATIONS
A MESSAGE FROM THE MUNICIPALITIES
If you are evacuating, gather important documents, medication, and enough food and water to be away from home for at least 3 days. Take pets with you.
For updates from Yellowhead County and Town of Edson, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/yellowheadcounty or www.yhcounty.ca for updates. Evacuees can call 1-833-334-4630 for more information.
For updates from Parkland County, please visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ParklandCountyAB. Residents in the affected areas can contact the Emergency Information Line at 1-780-968-8888.
For residents with health concerns related to smoke you can find the air quality map here: https://www.alberta.ca/about-the-air-quality-health-index.aspx. If you have smoke related health concerns, please contact AB 811 and click here for more information.
Albertans are always asked to use caution when working or recreating in the outdoors:
- Before you burn it, get your fire permit. Fire permits in Alberta.
- Clear debris from hot spots on your off-highway vehicle.
- Ensure your campfire is out - soak it, stir it, soak it again.
- Before you head out this weekend, check out the albertafirebans.ca website or download the app to stay informed.
ALBERTA WILDFIRE INFORMATION
- Subscribe to the Edson Forest Area wildfire update to receive an email when new information is posted.
- Download the Alberta Wildfire App for Apple and Android device.
- Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
For more information, please contact:
