Caption: Firefighters at morning safety briefing on Long Lake Fire, preparing to head out to the fire line and structural protection around the Town of Rainbow Lake photo taken May 09,2023 Incident Management Team 

WILDFIRE SITUATION REPORT| MAY 11, 2023 AT 11:00 AM

We are expecting high temperatures in the High Level Forest Area today. Alberta Wildfire's top priority when fighting a wildfire is the protection of human lives and the safety of communities. Firefighters have been prepositioned to respond to any new starts in the area.  Alberta carefully evaluates its response to all new wildfires detected in the Forest Protection area.  Several factors are taken into consideration when fighting a wildfire, including the potential threat to people, communities, watersheds and soils, other natural resources and infrastructure. 

To see all wildfires on a map and find more information regarding wildfires in Alberta please click here.

THE LONG LAKE FIRE | HWF036 | MAY 11, 2023 AT 11:00 Am

This fire is located in the vicinity of the Town of Rainbow Lake. This fire is classified as Out of Control (OC) and the last recorded size is 19,145 hectares.  

Alberta Wildfire firefighters, and air support from helicopters continue to secure containment lines to prevent the fire from spreading further into the community. Heavy equipment and additional resources have made significant progress creating control lines along the perimeter. With additional Heavy Equipment Supervisors, additional hours building containment line is expected today. The Rainbow Lake Fire Department have completed the sprinkler deployment within Town. The structural Protection crews will continue to operationalize the protection of structures within the area as the fire situation evolves. Additional Resources and wildfire firefighters from Alaska are arriving on the fire today.

The Town of Rainbow Lake has put on an evacuation order. Please stay informed by downloading the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app or by visiting their website.

THE PASKWA FIRE | HWF030 | MAY 11,2023 AT 9:00AM

The Paskwa fire is located in the community of Fox Lake and was detected on May 2, 2023. This fire is classified as Out of Control (OC) and the last recorded size is 24,634 hectares.

The slight reprieve in weather has allowed firefighters and aircraft to safely continue their work on putting out hotspots within the community to reduce fire spread to homes and critical infrastructure.

On the southwest side, firefighters and heavy equipment have been making good progress creating control lines along the fire perimeter, working their way up from River Road towards the Peace River in an effort to prevent spread towards the Little Red River.

The forecast for the coming days will see a return in continued hot and windy conditions. As of this update the fire is approximately 2.9 km away from the Little Red River cultural heritage site and remains on the south side of the Peace River.

Firefighters are using all of their available tools to control this wildfire. Ignition operation tactics reduce fire spread by using current natural barriers to control the fire line. Ignition plans will continue to be created to find opportunities to burn areas of concern along the fire perimeter. As the fire situation changes firefighters, helicopters, support staff, heavy equipment and airtankers will be working hard to re-evaluate their tactics to prevent fire spread to homes and critical infrastructure.

Today there is 70 firefighters, 12 helicopters, heavy equipment and airtankers as needed. Additional firefighters and resources have been requested.

Little Red River Cree Nation has an evacuation order in place for the community of Fox Lake. For information regarding the evacuation, please stay informed by visiting the Little Red River Cree Nation’s Facebook page.

Weather Forecast | Paskwa Fire (HWF030)

Weather Forecast – The Incident Management Team has a dedicated Fire Behaviour Analyst and therefore the weather briefing will be fire area specific. Todays forecast is as follows, a temperature of 26 degrees, a relative humidity of 15 per cent with winds from the east 10 km/h to 15 km/h.

SMOKE RELATED ISSUES

If you see smoke that is causing safety concerns to road conditions, please report to Alberta 511. Individuals experiencing smoke related health issues, can contact Alberta Health. To see a map showing the smoke forecast please click here. 

WEATHER

Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue and will continue to challenge firefighters and aircraft. Today, the forecast is calling for a high of 25 degrees, a relative humidity of 15 per cent and winds from the Southeast 15 km/h. 

Do your part to prevent wildfires. Before you go camping or recreating, make sure you are aware of the Fire Ban situation and OHV restrictions in your area. When firefighters are sent to extinguish abandoned campfires, they are valuable resources taken away, that could be fighting other wildfires which could threaten homes or communities.