Due to very hot and dry conditions, there is increased wildfire activity on many wildfires in our area. Community leaders are advising residents to BE PREPARED AND PAY ATTENTION.
EVACUATION ORDERS AND ALERTS ARE IN EFFECT WITHIN THE EDSON FOREST AREA. VISIT YOUR COMMUNITY WEBPAGE, SOCIAL MEDIA AND ALBERTA EMERGENCY ALERT FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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.
For road closure information, visit Alberta511 or download the app.
Previous Edson Forest Area Updates - Click here
Residents from Edson and Yellowhead County within evacuation order areas were heading east towards Edmonton yesterday evening (June 9, 2023).
BE PREPARED & PAY ATTENTION
MESSAGE FROM YOUR COMMUNITIES
For information on evacuation alerts and orders, please visit Alberta Emergency Alert or visit www.edson.ca and www.yhcounty.ca and their social media pages for updates. All residents are encouraged to download the Alberta Emergency Alert app. For evacuation information for Yellowhead County and Town of Edson, contact the info line: 1-833-334-4630.
Visit our wildfire dashboard to view active wildfires and their stats.
NEW WILDFIRE STARTS
EWF067 was discovered on June 9. It is currently out of control and estimated to be 0.11 ha in size. Firefighters are actioning this fire. The location of the fire is immediately north of the Cardinal River Road and approximately 2.2 km North of Muskiki Lake. The fire is located 7 km away from Grave Flats lookout tower. The other wildfires in that area have been heavily actioned and good progress has been made.
EWF069 was discovered this afternoon. It is now being held this evening and estimated to be 0.30 ha in size. Two crews, heavy equipment and aircraft are working on this fire. The location of the fire is 2.8 km north of Emerson Creek Road and 4.2 km south of Amoco Road.
PEMBINA WILDFIRE COMPLEX | EWF031, EWF039, RWF034, RWF040
EWF031 was detected on May 4 and is located 20 km west of Lodgepole, 5 km northwest of Brazeau Dam and 5 km south of Edson. The fire is classified as out of control and is estimated to be 204,284 ha in size. Yesterday, the wildfire grew approximately 73,000 ha.
There are 224 firefighters and support staff being shared between the Pembina Complex. There are 66 pieces of heavy equipment, and 24 helicopters assigned to the complex.
This afternoon, a hotshot crew from the U.S. consisting of 20 highly trained firefighters arrived at the Pembina Complex today. This team will be working primarily south of Fickle Lake on the west side of Highway 47. They are being supported by aerial resources, including heavy life bucketing helicopters and fixed-wing retardant airtankers. The fire behaviour remains extreme in this area.
Resources continue to be positioned south of Highway 16 to protect values north of the McLeod River where the fire spotted across the River yesterday evening. Heavy equipment and crews are continuing to work on the southeast corner of the fire, northwest of the Brazeau Reservoir.
As anticipated, the cold front is expected to pass through the area around 1900. This weather event will bring erratic and unpredictable winds to the area from the west which are expected to challenge containment lines east of the fire, west of Highway 753. Where it is safe to do so, crews are working to strengthen the containment line from Tidewater Road moving south towards the Brazeau Reservoir.
The onsite Incident Management Team is working in conjunction with local government and impacted partners to unify and coordinate response in areas where the wildfire is encroaching on values.
Similar conditions are being observed on site today, with gusty winds sustained from the southeast 25 km/hr gusting upwards of 45 km/hr fire growth is primarily in the northwest and west direction. Extreme fire behaviour was observed on the north, northwest and west flanks of the fire today. Growth over the past 24 hours has been a result of sustained winds, dry fuels, temperatures into the 30s and low relative humidities. Firefighting under these conditions is extremely dangerous and crews will only be working in areas where it is safe to do so. Aerial support, including fixed-wing retardant airtankers, water skimmers and helicopters will be utilized ahead of growing flame fronts. As the situation remains unstable, top priorities on-site today remain as first responder and public safety.
Yesterday, the north edge of the fire grew over 18 km towards Highway 16. Late last evening, the fire spotted north across the McLeod River. Through the night, an Australian contingent of firefighters worked with Yellowhead County structure protection to patrol and set up structure protection throughout the community of Ansell. Today, crews will continue to work with the County and the Town of Edson to assess and protect properties ahead of the fire.
A heavy equipment task force, including 11 dozers and an excavator worked through the night last night with line locators to begin cleaning up a pre-existing fuel-free area that could help to contain the north edge of the fire. Today, as visibility allows, aerial suppression support was utilized along the north section of the fire to slow the advancing front of fire.
Yesterday, pushed by southeast winds, the west side of the fire grew 31 km further west. The fire grew beyond Sundance Road, just east of Erith River and continued across Highway 47. The western side of the fire has reached Fickle Lake and continues to grow in the northwest direction. This morning, airtankers and skimmers are operating in the Fickle Lake area to slow fire growth. This area of the fire is predominantly burning through spruce, which under these extreme conditions, spreads extremely quickly.
On the east side of the fire, fire crossed control lines in multiple areas. On the southeast corner, approximately 50 ha of fire crossed containment lines. The fire crossed the Elk River Road just north of the Brazeau Reservoir. Given the topographical features influenced by the Brazeau Dam, winds from the southwest are challenging containment in this area of the fire. The primary concern with these wind patterns is that the fire may continue to cross containment lines and grow into thick spruce that could threaten values further southeast. A heavy equipment task force is working to build a new containment line to the southeast.
Resources will continue to be reassigned to areas of the fire where they can safely work. Due to significant safety risk crews will be withdrawn from areas of the displaying an organized flame front.
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.
Approximately 150-hectares of fire crossed control lines yesterday on the east side of the Brazeau Reservoir adjacent to Sunchild Road. There is no threat to values at this time and crews will continue to work in this area today. The northwest tip of the fire had approximately 50-hectares grow beyond containment lines yesterday. Personnel will be assessing that area of the fire today with additional help from aerial support.
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 and remains classified as out of control. An infrared scan was completed over this fire yesterday to identify any hotspots in the area. Crews will continue to targets any remaining hotspots for this fire.
The onsite Incident Management Team is continuing to collaborate with all partners and communities within the vicinity of this wildfire to ensure public safety.
New information on this complex will be available again tomorrow. To view previous Edson Forest Area Updates - Click here.
By: Sarah Hall, Pembina Complex. Wildfire Information Officer, BC Wildfire Service.
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 6,284 hectares, 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 2,478 hectares.
Relatively more hot spots than earlier this week became active on WCU001 and WCU002 over the past 24 hours, but firefighters have been actively working alongside bucketing helicopters to promptly action them. Work continues to be done north of Wildwood west of highway 22. Firefighters wrapped up the work they were doing alongside the high-volume pump at the cattle field in this area. They have been actioning hot spots in the field to the north today. Fire crews and heavy equipment are also working near Range Road 91 on WCU001. They began working on the north end of Range Road 91 earlier this week and are now moving southward, making good progress.
A reminder that deep ash pits and burning peat are dangerous. We continue to ask residents to be extra cautious near burnt areas.
We also ask residents to avoid venturing into forested areas that have been recently affected by wildfire as they can present other hazards such as falling trees, as a result of root systems being compromised by fire.
EWF035 was detected on May 5. The northern portion of the fire is located 2 km east of Shining Bank Lake, reaching north and east across Township Road 560 and as far south as approximately 2 km north of the Niton Junction railway.
This wildfire is classified as out of control and has been remapped by GIS at 19,672 ha. 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.
Moderate to high winds with significant gusts pushed smoke and fire spread towards the northwest for the last few days. As a result, we have seen some growth on the southwest side of the perimeter, including one very small area that has made its way northwest across McLeod River. This spot can be seen on the new perimeter available for viewing on the Dashboard, and is located west of the junction of East Bank Road and Range Road 132. Firefighters worked in this area today using pumps and hose and made good progress with fire suppression.
Despite the hot and windy conditions today in the Edson Fire Management Area, fire activity on fire EWF035 has been less intense than yesterday though still moderate in nature. Firefighters continue to work alongside heavy equipment in several areas on this fire.
Firefighters work in collaboration with heavy equipment operators on EWF035 on (June 10, 2023)
Winds are expected to shift from southeast to north and northwest this evening. This has prompted Woodlands County to issue an evacuation alert to some of its residents for a southern portion of their county. See the Alberta Emergency Alerts website for details and developments: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-emergency-alert.aspx
Woodlands County Fire Department continues to install structural protection on properties within the alert area as a precautionary measure.
Yellowhead County Fire Department with Alberta Wildfire continues to triage residences with regard to the need for structural protection and are continuing to install sprinklers on some residences north of Niton. Firefighters continue to actively work on areas of the fire that are seeing increased activity while helicopters can be seen dropping water where smoke and flames are most prominent.
Smoke is heavy in the area, this is expected to continue for the coming days.
There are 110 firefighters assigned to the Deep Creek Complex, six helicopters, 40 pieces of heavy equipment and 36 overhead staff that are part of the incident management team and crew supervision. An incident management team from Ontario with members from Alberta is working alongside overhead staff and firefighters from Australia, British Columbia, South Africa and dedicated Alberta Wildfire staff on the Deep Creek Complex.
New information will be available again tomorrow. Previous Edson Forest Area Updates - Click here.
By: Isabelle Chenard. Wildfire Information Officer, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Contact: 780-728-5843.
WILD HAY WILDFIRE COMPLEX | EWF037 and EWF040
The Wild Hay Complex is comprised of two wildfires, EWF037 and EWF040. They are both located south of the Little Smoky River, north of the Wild Hay River and east of Hwy 40 north. The complex is 63 km north of Hinton. EWF040 is producing a lot of smoke that can be seen from far away, including from Hinton.
EWF040 remains out of control and was estimated to be 12,073 ha. It escaped its wildfire boundary on June 7 and is burning mostly to north-northwest from its original area and has crossed the the Berland River and is now burning in both our forest area and the Whitecourt Forest Area. Today, firefighters anticipate that the cold front will shift the winds sometime this afternoon and push the fire towards the south.
EWF037 continues to be classified as being held at 578 ha.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON WILDFIRES IN OUR AREA
AREA CHALLENGES | This has been an unprecedented wildfire season; one that has resulted in many challenges for wildfire staff across the province. In response Alberta has been working with our partners to meet the demands for personnel and equipment needed to fight the numerous wildfires we have seen this spring. In the Edson Forest Area we currently have crews and support staff from all over Canada and the world, including U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, B.C., P.E.I., Newfoundland and Ontario.
WORK OR RECREATE NEAR WILDFIRE AREAS | We urge residents and members of the public to use extra caution near burnt areas. There are many hazards that may not be visible, like deep burning ash pits and falling trees. Burnt trees are a serious hazard, and trees that may look healthy that have green needles or leaves could have burnt out roots under the ground and fall unexpectedly. Keep in mind that trees and powerlines could also fall on the road and block your vehicle. Do not approach powerlines as they could be energized.
SMOKE | 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. If you have smoke related health concerns, please contact Alberta 811 or visit Alberta Health Services . Visit firesmoke.ca for current and forecasted smoke.
REPORTING WILDFIRES | We always appreciate people calling in to report wildfires but the large volume of calls we are receiving could be diverting our resources away from other essential tasks. As always, 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. If you or your property are in immediate danger, call 911.
AIRCRAFT NEAR WATER | Depending on the location of a wildfire, firefighting aircraft may need to use water from nearby lakes as a source of water to help fight wildfires. Often, these aircraft arrive without advanced warning. If you are in the water and see an aircraft coming in to collect water, please move within 30 m from the shore so these aircraft can safely resume firefighting efforts. Aircraft are large and require space to collect water, without interference from people and boats. Help us by staying out of the way when aircraft are around. Click here to learn more.
DRONES | 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
WILDFIRE PREPARDNESS | Learn how you can prepare yourself for a wildfire by clicking here.
WILDFIRE INVESTIGATIONS | Wildfires in Alberta are either human-caused or caused by lightning. Every wildfire in Alberta is investigated and the wildfires mentioned remain under investigation.
WILDFIRE CLASSIFICATIONS | To learn more about wildfire classifications, click here.
WILDFIRE MAPS AND BOUNDARIES | Note that wildfire perimeter maps are 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. Visit our Wildfire Dashboard to view active wildfires and their stats on the wildfire dashboard. Click on "view interactive map". You can choose different basemaps by selecting the four squares icon, or layers by clicking on the three sheets of paper on the top right corner.
**Bold indicates new or important information.
We encourage the public and industry to download the AB Fire Bans app or visit the website to learn more about prohibited and allowed actives under this restriction. If you are looking for information regarding crown land, click on the area you plan to visit and not the nearest town. Be advised that Alberta Parks has it's own set of fire ban levels, please visit their website for more information.
The fire restriction will remain in effect until conditions improve. To view the Alberta Wildfire Fire Ban video, click here.
Albertans are always asked to use caution when working or recreating in the outdoors:
ALBERTA WILDFIRE INFORMATION
For more information, please contact: