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
Crews and wildfire personnel during a briefing on the Deep Creek Wildfire Complex yesterday evening. (May 28, 2023)
Firefighters continue to consider controlled burn operations on some of the wildfires in the area. These can include ground and aerial ignition operations. These operations can only occur if the conditions are suitable. Firefighters monitor and evaluate those conditions throughout the day.
The goal of this operation is to remove the available fuel between the fire’s edge and the containment line. This strategy helps to slow down and limit the spread of the wildfire by decreasing the amount of fire perimeter that must be managed by firefighters. 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, EWF40 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.
NEW WILDIRE DETECTIONS
EWF050 was detected on May 27. The fire is currently under control and is estimated to be 1.5 ha in size. This wildfire is approximately is 3 km west of Highway 753, south of Highway 16.
EWF053 was detected on May 29. The fire is currently out of control and is estimated to be 0.25 ha in size. One wildland fire engine, one crew and two helicopters are currently actioning the fire. The fire is approximately 5 km south of Highway 16, and 9.5 km west of Highway 47.
You can view all these wildfires and their locations on our wildfire dashboard.
PEMBINA WILDFIRE COMPLEX - EWF031/039, RWF034/040
Today, there were 105 firefighters and IMT support staff being shared between all fires on the Complex. There were 67 pieces of heavy equipment, and 21 helicopters assigned to the complex. An airtanker group is available to respond if necessary.
Today crews and heavy equipment were creating containment line on both the northern and southern sides of the Wildfire Complex. In the north area, they continued to make progress on securing the perimeter of the EWF031 excursion while south of RWF034 and RWF040, dozers and crews are successfully expanding the containment line in that area.
Fire behavior as occurred yesterday, started out as moderate throughout the morning with stable temperatures and moderate relative humidity. Rain showers moved into some areas of the of the wildfire complex this afternoon with increasing winds and precipitation while other portions of the complex received no precipitation. Surface fire with low rates of spread was observed earlier in the day followed by increased activity in the afternoon including intermittent crowning and spread on EWF031. Thunderstorms passing through the fire caused winds to move in all direction. The predominant wind direction on EWF031 pushed back onto the fire front checking the fire progress north and nudged it slightly to the west.
Later this week, the trend continues for slowly warming and drying conditions into next weekend.
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 130,762 ha in size. This number changed due to more accurate mapping with an infrared scan conducted last night in addition to increased fire behavior that occurred over the last few days. Any fire growth today was well within fire containment lines.
Today firefighters continued to focus on the excursion located on the northeast portion of the fire. The excursion’s progress to the north was stopped by the secured containment line established by dozers and crews yesterday and today. The team also had aircraft working on the excursion throughout the day. Dozers established a containment line around a small spot fire to the east of the main excursion. Crews will continue to secure that containment line tomorrow.
There is a containment line on the north side of the fire working downwards towards 6 Mile Road as well as a containment line previously completed and located south from Dora’s Corner. Both lines will have continued air support as visibility allows, and it is safe for aviation resources to operate to perform water drop if necessary.
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. One smoke was detected well into the fire perimeter. 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.
On the southeast side of RWF034, an additional containment line continues to be constructed from the highway to the corner of the Brazeau Reservoir. It continues south from the reservoir and west to tie in with the Brazeau River. It then continues along the south bank of the river extending west around the southwest side of RWF040. From there it heads north on the East flank of RWF040. Good progress was made on this containment line. This work will continue and is expected to be completed within about two days.
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.
RWF040 The fire is actively monitored by firefighters and support staff assigned to the complex who 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. Wildfire Information Officer, Oregon Department of Forestry.
Video of airtankers working ahead of the excursion on EWF031 . Video can only be viewed on website and app. (May 28, 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 6,281 ha in size, no new growth has been 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 it 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’s status remains out of control. It is estimated to be 2,477 ha in size.
There has been no new growth outside of the fire perimeter of either of these wildfires and observed fire behavior continues to be low. Firefighters made good progress again today on containing the wildfire and "mopping up", meaning their putting out hotspots.
Smoke will continue to be seen as flare-ups occur on the interior. This is expected to persist in the peat areas where the fire is burning deep, smouldering under the layers of peat, burning roots and other organic matter. The presence of bucketing helicopters is expected to continue as they work on fire suppression.
Fire behaviour typically increases 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.
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. Firefighters first work to contain the fire perimeter to ensure it doesn’t grow, then they will work their way in from the outside edge. Firefighters will need to search for 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 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 is estimated to be 19,592 ha in size. The wildfire is south of Township Road 570, has burnt down to the south and continues to a site two kilometers north of the railroad track in Niton Junction. The fire moved across the Range Road 123 and burnt up to the Lobstick River.
As wildfires do not burn in a uniform fashion, not all forested areas within the fire’s perimeter have been affected by fire. When winds and temperatures increase and relative humidity drops, the patches of unburned vegetation may continue to burn inside the perimeter. This is a normal occurrence.
Photo of EWF035 showing the "patchy" nature of wildfire activity. (May 29, 2023)
Wildland firefighters continue to work with heavy equipment to contain the wildfire on the south sections of the fire. The hotshot crews from the U.S. continue to work 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 and continuing to work near Sunset Lake and other areas around the east side of the fire.
Photo of a helicopter bucketing water onto EWF035 of the Deep Creek Complex this afternoon. (May 29, 2023)
The perimeter from the northeast of the fire towards the northwest was cool again today with little to no fire activity. The north and west boundary of the wildfire, down East Bank Road (Range Road 133A) is now contained and firefighters expect that the containment line will hold should the winds push the wildfire in that direction again.
Temperatures are forecasted to be in the high teens to low 20s with 50 to 60% relative humidity on Tuesday and Wednesday. Southwesterly winds are expected to be light to moderate tomorrow at 15 to 20 km/h, gusting up to 35. Lighter northwesterly winds are expected on Wednesday.
While precipitation has been in the forecast for the past couple of days, it has been light and scattered. Some areas of the fires in the Deep Creek Complex did not record any rainfall. The lack of precipitation, warming temperatures and increasing winds continue to create some fire behaviour, more notably at “peak burn”. Firefighters were responding to flare ups within the interior of the wildfire perimeter today and helicopters continue to bucket hotspots. There is more light precipitation in the forecast over the coming days, however we will need significant, persistent and widespread precipitation to improve the current dry conditions in the long term.
The Deep Creek Complex has 76 wildland firefighters, six helicopters, 31 pieces of heavy equipment and 36 overhead staff that are part of the incident management team and crew supervision. Additional resources are expected to arrive in the coming days.
By: Isabelle Chenard. Wildfire Information Officer, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Contact: 780-728-5843.
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 29, 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:
