DO NOT USE DRONES NEAR WILDFIRE ACTIVITY! YOU ARE IMPACTING OUR AERIAL OPERATIONS AND PUTTING OUR PILOTS AND STAFF AT RISK OF SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH!
A DRONE IN THE AREA MEANS WE MUST LAND ALL AIRCRAFT IN THE AREA.
A FIRE BAN and OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE RESTRICTION is in effect for the Forest Protection Area of Alberta, including the Edson Forest Area.
Do not fly drones in an area of active wildfire. Drones halt air operations and we will have to wait for the airspace to be clear. Drones can endanger our aircraft and crews that are needed to work on the wildfire.
For previous Edson Forest Area Updates - Click here
Firefighters and heavy equipment are working together, containing wildfire spread and putting out hotspots. (May 16, 2023)
GENERAL INFORMATION ON WILDFIRES IN OUR AREA
The forecast is calling for similar or better conditions then yesterday, with slightly better temperatures in the low to mid 20s, winds expected to stay around 15-20 km/h, and slightly higher relative humidity for the next two days. These conditions could still cause similar fire behaviour to what we've experienced in the past two days however should assist firefighters to make good progress on the fireline in our forest area. The area continues to have limited resources due to these exceptional times. We're sharing our provincial 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 will be growth on many of the wildfires throughout the Edson Forest Area.
Smoke will be heavy again today and tomorrow in the areas of Wildwood, Lobstick, Hansonville, Evansburg and Entwistle. Lingering smoke will be seen along highway 16 and highway 22 and in affected communities. A smoke inversion happens when cooler air is trapped near the ground by a layer of warmer air above it and the inversion will keep smoke close the ground level. Smoke inversions can cause dangerous driving conditions and impact nearby communities.
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. Thank you!
These wildfires remain under investigation. To learn more about wildfire classifications, click here.
ACTIVE WILDFIRES
PEMBINA WILDFIRE COMPLEX - EWF031/039, RWF034/040
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 82,666 ha in size. No significant growth has been observed since May 7, 2023.
There are 77 firefighters and support staff being shared between this fire and EWF039. There are 37 pieces of heavy equipment, and eight helicopters assigned to the complex.
Crews utilized more ignition operations yesterday to remove remaining unburned fuel in between the fire perimeter and the planned containment lines in a controlled manner.
The ignition operation was successfully completed, and personnel will prioritize cleaning up any remaining fuel in this area today. Future ignition opportunities will only occur if favourable conditions are available. A high altitude infrared scan was completed and will more accurately display the size and perimeter of the fire.
Winds are blowing out of the northwest today at 10km/h in the morning, catering to fire spread in areas of heat along the southern sides of the fire. Weather conditions on the complex remain hot and dry. Gusty winds will continue this afternoon.
EWF039 located near Carrot Creek, is currently being held. The fire is currently estimated to be 216 ha. The fire is fully wrapped in containment line and is a kilometer away from the Carrot Creek lookout tower. Crews have successfully left the area and will be 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 67,042 ha in size. There are 76 firefighters and support staff working on this fire. There are three helicopters assigned to the fire and three additional helicopters assigned to the complex. In addition, there are 20 pieces of heavy equipment.
The perimeter has not grown significantly on the south side of the fire and containment lines have held. The only growth that occurred was minimal and was located where no suppression efforts had taken place due to competing priority areas.
Yesterday, the priority continued to be on the south side of the fire on established containment line. Direct attack was still being used when safe and smoldering ground fire was observed yesterday along the perimeter and/or within the fire. In addition mop up and hot spotting is occurring near and within the O’Chiese Reserve. On the north side, crews are hotspotting and gridding to detect any remaining activity in this area in order to establish containment lines.
RWF040 is located 6 km northeast of the Forestry Trunk Road and Brown Creek Provincial Recreational Area and is classified as out of control. There are 76 firefighters and support staff shared between this fire and RWF034. The fire is currently estimated to be 2,200 ha in size.
If you have any questions or concerns about the PEMBINA COMPLEX please call the Wildfire Information Officer Sarah Hall at 250-318-8375.
View of ignition operations conducted yesterday on the Pembina Complex (May 16, 2023)
DEEP CREEK WILDFIRE COMPLEX – EWF035, WCU001 & WCU002
An incident management team from the U.S Forest Service along with many of their firefighters have arrived over the past two days and relieved our Alberta Wildfire team. The AB Wildfire team will rest and re-assemble to be deployed again later in the week at one of the many wildfire complexes that the province is currently managing. We want to thank our American friends for coming to assist us. A special arrangement has been in place for many years between Canada and the U.S, we share highly trained resources and send them where needed.
WCU001 was detected on April 29 and is classified as out of control. The wildfire remains at 7,281 ha in size, no new growth was recorded again yesterday 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.
Patches of unburned vegetation may burn inside the perimeter of the fire and large smoke columns may be seen coming from within the fire perimeter. Helicopters will action these flare-ups as required throughout the day using bucketing operations.
Wildfire crews continue working in areas of deep peat south of WCU001 that are within the fire perimeter. Fire behavior is expected to be moderate today with cooler temperatures but conditions will remain very dry. Highway 16 will experience smoke from the active wildfire zone due to the hotspots near the highway. There will be smoke north of Wildwood as crews work to extinguish a major hotspot area.
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 of the fire perimeter detected yesterday; only patches of unburned fuel within the boundaries of the fire which were actioned immediately with helicopter bucketing operations.
Today again, smoke will be very visible to residents in the area which is being produced from the interior of the fire. These areas of unburnt fuel are surrounded by burned out areas and are within the perimeter boundary. The smoke is a benefit, dampening the wildfire behaviour but can cause health concerns. If you're experiencing smoke related health concerns, you can contact AB 811. Smoke will linger along Highway 16 as crews work to extinguish hotspots. The wildfire has stayed south of Township Road 550 and east of Range Road 92 and west of Range Road 75. Alberta Wildfire and Yellowhead County are actioning this wildfire.
EWF035 was detected on May 5 and is located 3 km east of Shining Bank. This wildfire is classified as out of control and estimated to be 5,951 ha in size. The wildfire is south of Township Road 570, west of Range Road 123, north and a small southern section of Township Road 560 and east of Shining Bank Lake
There was new growth on the south perimeter of the fire yesterday. The fire burnt down towards the south nearly against Twp road 560. Firefighters will attempt to bring the burn up to the road, removing the available fuel that the fire could consume. By removing available fuel, it will help decrease the chances of flare ups during the following weeks and through the summer. It will also allow for better clean up. The fire crews will search for and extinguish the hotspots along the road and work their way in from there using water pumps and hose.
The fire did get across Twp Rd 560 and burn into a few patches of trees. The fire is approximately half a km wide and half a km long past 560. Heavy equipment will be busy putting in containment line ahead of the fire to the south, where it's safe for the operators to do so. Firefighters and heavy equipment operators successfully completed a large priority containment line which is approximately four dozer blades wide from Twp Rd 570 pointing directly south and tying into Twp Rd 560 (west of Rg Rd 123). This will help contain the fire from moving towards the east, into agricultural land.
Wildland firefighters expect some growth to occur on the south-southeast of the fire perimeter of EWF035 again today.
Today, crews of firefighters will continue working on containment and putting out hotspots on the north side of the fire.
Aircraft will continue to report heightened wildfire activity areas to the ground and resources will work on priority areas.
USA Hotshot Crews worked on the Deep Creek Complex yesterday. (May 17, 2023)
Yellowhead County has reported that structural protection crews have been initiating their system over the last several days and are now prepared to action approximately 100 homes. Special flagging of different colours marked ‘SPU’ are set up on these properties to help firefighters identify operations for that property. This is to identify the placement of pumps and structural protection sprinklers. Please do not remove the flagging. Woodlands County and the Whitecourt Fire Department have also installed sprinkler protection on houses in the immediate area of EWF035 and will continue to monitor the situation as it continues. Woodlands County has strategically placed staff for night watch on EWF-035 to monitor for fire activity after dark. Alberta Wildfire is assisting Yellowhead County and Woodlands County with this wildfire.
The Deep Creek Complex has a total of 44 firefighters plus 19 incident management firefighters working with 27 pieces of heavy equipment on this complex. Additionally, eight helicopters are assisting the wildfire with aerial assessments and performing bucket operations on the complex.
Today the temperatures will be in the low to mid 20s with slightly higher relative humidity. This should keep the fire behaviour less active then yesterday. The winds will come from the northeast then shift and come from the southeast tomorrow. They're expected to stay between 15-20 km/h.
We encourage anyone who suspects a wildfire that is not indicated on our app to report it to 310-FIRE.
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
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. EWF037 is out of control at 578 ha and EWF040 is out of control at 684 ha.
No growth occurred on this complex yesterday or overnight. Spots of unburned green vegetation may be torching today. This fire behavior may be visible in that area today as well as producing smoke.
There are 3 helicopters, 6 pieces of heavy equipment and 4 wildfire personnel working on this fire today.
Crews and equipment made great progress yesterday on the containment line around EWF-037. They will continue reinforcing the guard around this wildfire. Crews and equipment will be working on the containment line around EWF-040 fire perimeter this afternoon.
PUBLIC WILDFIRE MAPS
Edson Forest Area Overview Map - May 16, 2023 - public map - Click here.
Deep Creek Wildfire Complex (EWF-035, WCU002 and WCU001) May 10th, 2023 - public map - Click here.
Pembina Wildfire Complex (EWF031, EWF039, RWF034, RWF040) May 9, 2023 - public map - Click here.
EWF035 Wildfire May 16, 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
Visit our Wildfire Dashboard to view active wildfires and their stats on the wildfire dashboard.
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: https://511.alberta.ca/#:Alerts
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
PROVINCIAL STATE OF EMERGENCY
Hot, dry conditions continue in most areas of the province resulting in numerous wildfires. A provincial state of emergency has been declared. Albertans who require assistance can call 310-4455 for wildfire related information - Click here.
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
VOLUNTEER INFORMATION
Volunteers, equipment owners/operators or firefighters looking to assist with these wildfires or any of the wildfires within the province, please contact EmergencySupportOffers@gov.ab.ca. Please do not contact Edson Forest Area logistics directly, as they are extremely busy supporting the wildfire situation in the area. Thank you.
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.
WE URGE RESIDENTS AND RECREATIONALISTS TO USE EXTRA CAUTION
Due to the current dry grass, warm weather and possible windy conditions, there is an increased risk of wildfires in the Edson Forest Area. We urge residents and visitors to exercise caution and take the following precautions:
- Do not start any fires or use open flames in areas that are susceptible to catching fire, such as near dry vegetation like grass or wooded areas.
- Dispose of cigarettes and other smoking materials properly, do not throw them on the ground.
- If you see a wildfire, immediately call 310-FIRE (3473) and report the location of the fire.
- Avoid using equipment that could generate sparks, friction or flames, such as power tools or lawn mowers, in areas with dry vegetation.
- Ensure grinders and welders are properly maintained and used in areas that are free from dry vegetation. Have sufficient water and tools on hand. Always keep watch of your surroundings and look around at regular intervals for smoke or flames that may have been accidently ignited.
We encourage everyone to stay informed about the current wildfire risk and to follow any guidance or orders from emergency personnel. By working together and taking proactive steps, we can help reduce the risk of wildfires in our community.
WILDFIRE PREVENTION TIPS
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: