Edson Area Update

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

Smoke will be heavy this morning 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. 

---

GENERAL INFORMATION ON WILDFIRES IN OUR AREA

Recently the weather has been favorable for firefighting efforts, however the forecast is calling for increasing temperatures, high winds, and low relative humidity beginning today into Monday. These conditions are likely to cause elevated wildfire danger and increased wildfire behaviour, which will be challenging to wildfire operations within the Edson Forest Area.

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 region.

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. There are 72 firefighters and support staff being shared between this fire and EWF039. There are 20 pieces of heavy equipment three helicopters, and six additional helicopters assigned to the complex.

**EWF031 experienced increased fire behaviour on the eastern side of the wildfire perimeter as of 5:00 p.m. today, approximately 50 km southeast of Edson, 28 km south of Carrot Creek and 18 km southeast of Minnow Lake. Airtankers have been working on this wildfire all day, prioritizing areas to slow the fire behaviour and are were working on this section.

An airtanker group is working the northwest corner of the fire today. This group is composed of one birddog and five skimmers. Crews were focused on operations on the northeast corner today and helicopters worked in conjunction with crews along containment lines. Very minimal growth has been observed since May 7, 2023.

Fair and stable conditions will continue through Monday as an upper area of high pressure remains over the province. Low relative humidity and high temperatures will result in increased fire behaviour. A warming and drying trend will persist over the weekend. Some increased smoke and activity has been observed in localized areas on the north flank of the fire. All smoke on the northwest flank is located within containment lines and amongst patches of burnt fuel. Islands of unburnt trees still remain within fire perimeter and may be susceptible to ignition.

EWF031 was showing active wildfire behaviour on the northeast side of the fire 28 km south of Carrot Creek (May 13, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.)

EWF039 located near Carrot Creek, is currently burning being held. The fire is estimated to be 216 ha. There are 70 firefighters and support staff being shared between this fire and EWF031. Crews are continuing to mop up along containment lines. The fire was visibly quiet this morning with minimal smoke in the area. Resources will be repositioned when appropriate.

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 60 firefighters and support staff working on this wildfire along with helicopters and heavy equipment. There are three helicopters assigned to the fire and six additional helicopters assigned to the complex. In addition, there are 20 pieces of heavy equipment. Crews are continuing mop up near and within the O’Chiese Reserve, the rest of the fire has remained quiet.

RWF040 is located 6 km northeast of the Forestry Trunk Road and Brown Creek Provincial Recreational Area and is classified as out of control. The fire is 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 at 250-318-8375.

---

Wildfire activity on WCU001 (May 13, 2023)

DEEP CREEK WILDFIRE COMPLEX – EWF035, WCU001 & WCU002 

WCU001 was detected on April 29 and is classified as out of control. The wildfire has been reassessed and is now 7,281 ha in size. The wildfire did cross west over the Pembina River and spread north where it did travel over Highway 16. The wildfire continued to spread parallel with Highway 16 as it moved further west where the wildfire spread just north of Wildwood and towards Chip Lake. Today crews will continue to work north of Wildwood and along Highway 16 extinguishing hotspots. Crews will be present with pumps and hose within communities and nearby homes as they work to extinguish hotspots that are still smoldering. Highway 16 will experience smoke from the still 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.

Smoke columns will increase into the weekend as the fire behavior reacts to the heat and windy conditions. We have aircraft monitoring these flare-ups from above and they will report back to the ground crews to ensure that they stay within the already burned-out area to prevent spread. Many of the fuels that are burning off in the wildfire interior area are green trees within the burnt over zone that didn’t initially burn. Airtankers are available as requested. Alberta Wildfire is assisting Parkland County with this wildfire. 

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 2,401 ha in size. Smoke that will be visible to residents in the area is from the interior of the fire and is surrounded by burned out areas, unlikely to grow from within. There will be smoke south of the fire boundary as crews and heavy equipment work in an area that has a high amount of peat vegetation. 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 5,332 ha in size. The wildfire is south of Township Road 570, west of Range Road 123, north of Township Road 560 and east of Shining Bank Lake. 

There are crews and heavy equipment allocated to the wildfire and they're working to establish containment lines to prevent further spread into rural properties. Tomorrow groups of heavy equipment are going to be working on the southeast side of the perimeter to create a fire break. Airtankers did drop retardant on the northeast side of the wildfire to eliminate spread. Helicopters will drop water to extinguish larger hotspots on the south boundary line tomorrow. Resources are allocated to this fire and will work to extinguish hotspots as they continue to flare-up. Aircraft will continue to report heightened wildfire activity areas to the ground and resources will work on those priority areas. 

Structure Protection crews from Yellowhead County, Woodlands County and the Whitecourt Fire Department have installed sprinkler protection on houses in the immediate area of EWF-035. Alberta Wildfire is assisting Yellowhead County and Woodlands County with this wildfire.  

52 firefighters are working alongside 25 pieces of heavy equipment on this complex. Additionally, eight helicopters performed bucketing operations on the wildfires near affected communities.  

Tomorrow weather will remain in the high 20's and winds will increase out of the south-southeast at 15-20 km/h with gusts of 35 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 at 780-653-0153 and press 2 for information. 

Heavy equipment is work on EWF035 building and reinforcing containment lines (May 13, 2023)

---

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. EWF040 displayed active fire behaviour today and airtankers were required. Four firefighters have been assigned to the fire. Heavy equipment continues to establish containment lines around these wildfires.

Aerial view of Wild Hay Complex (May 13, 2023)

---

PUBLIC WILDFIRE MAPS

Edson Forest Area Overview Map - May 6, 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 10, 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.