Rocky Mountain House Area Update

The wildfire danger in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area is moderate. 

Report smoke or fire in the forest by calling 310-FIRE (3473). 

AMENDMENTS TO FIRE BAN AND OHV RESTRICTION

As of 10:00 AM, Friday May 26, the fire ban and OHV restriction have been lifted in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area.  A FIRE RESTRICTION is now in effect.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE FOREST AREA UPDATE

There are currently four wildfires burning in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area. Two of these wildfires are out of control and two are classified as under control. Since January 1, 2023 there have been 52 wildfires in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area, burning a total of 119,503.41 hectares (ha).

ACTIVE WILDFIRES

RCU005 - Thanks to the hard work of the County, Alberta Wildfire and the Canadian Armed Forces, as of May 17 2023, we have classified RCU005 as being held.

Alberta Wildfire continues to support RCU005 with resources and given the current weather conditions, the wildfire is not anticipated to grow past expected boundaries.

PEMBINA WILDFIRE COMPLEX - EWF031/039, RWF034/040

Today, there were 125 firefighters and IMT support staff being shared between all fires on the Complex. There were 61 pieces of heavy equipment, and 27 helicopters assigned to the complex. An airtanker group was available to respond if necessary.

Aviation resources were busy today providing aerial suppression support on the fire as needed.

Roads in the area continue to dry and firm up allowing better access to critical areas of the fire. Today all the crews were actively engaged. They are working direct on the fire line using tools and water hoses to mop up, secure, and fill in some of the gaps between the fire and the dozer lines. They continue to “button up” and secure the north end of the fire.

Fire behavior today – The increasing moderate fire behavior caused by warming and drying conditions as was forecast earlier this week, appeared today. Tomorrow there will be slightly reduced relative humidity resulting slowly drying fuels. This trend continues for slow warming and drying through Saturday.

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 124,051 in size. This number will change due to increased fire behavior that occurred today. Any fire growth today was well within fire contingency containment lines.

There is a containment line on the north side of the fire working downwards towards 6 Mile Road as well as a containment line located south from Dora’s Corner (completed several days ago). Both lines will have continued air support as visibility allows, and it is safe for aviation resources to operate to perform water drops.

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. Crews successfully left the area and have been 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 87,108 ha in size. The increased size is attributed to growth that has been observed over the last couple of days and due to more accurate mapping.

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 although they will be tracked individually for the time being.

RWF040 The fire is being monitored by firefighters and support staff assigned to the complex and are able to respond if necessary. The fire is currently estimated to be 5,089 ha in size. Past growth occurred mostly to the west. The Blackstone Lookout Tower in the area is currently not at risk. Planning is being done for a controlled burn between the southern edge of the fire and the Brazeau River. This operation will take place anytime this week when conditions safe conditions allow the operation to proceed.

By: Kent Romney, Pembina Complex.

If you have any questions or concerns about the PEMBINA COMPLEX please call the Area Wildfire Information Officer:  Caroline Charbonneau at 780-740-1341

Lightning through the area has been causing many fire starts. Lightning can cause wildfire, which can smoulder on the ground for a few days before becoming active and visible. This is called a "holdover" fire. Alberta Wildfire follows weather forecasts and also tracks each lightning strike using a tracking system. This allows them to pinpoint where there are areas that have been heavily impacted by lightning. They then send out firefighters to patrol these areas.

CONTROLLED BURN WILL PRODUCE SMOKE COLUMNS 

After thorough planning, AB Wildfire and U.S. firefighters are considering the use of a controlled burn operation. This will only occur if all weather, wind and other requirements are met. The methods used will include hand ignition operations.

A dozer group will be working south of the Brazeau Dam and work their way down the shore of the Brazeau River towards the west with the intention of tying a containment line from RWF-034 to RWF-040 before moving toward the north.

This activity may begin today May 27, 2023 in the afternoon and continue over the next several days as conditions permit safe and controlled burning operations. All safety precautions will be in place prior to start.

The goal of this operation is to remove the available fuel between the fire’s edge and the containment line. This strategy slows down and helps limit the spread of the wildfire by decreasing the amount of fire perimeter that must be managed by firefighters.

Firefighters will closely monitor and evaluate the situation as conditions change. 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. To find out where smoke is coming from, visit firesmoke.ca. If you have health related concerns, please call Health Link at 8-1-1.

PROVINCIAL WILDFIRE UPDATE 

Since January 1, 2023 in the Forest Protection Area, there have been 524 wildfires burning a total of 1,051,420.53 ha.

WILDFIRE DASHBOARD

The wildfire dashboard provides up-to-date wildfire information at the click of a button. This interactive tool displays important statistics on the number of active wildfires in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta, sizes, locations, suspected causes and more.

The dashboard builds on the former wildfire status map by displaying the most frequently accessed information in one convenient location.

WILDFIRE INFORMATION

Download the Alberta Wildfire app today and get access to accurate, real-time information on wildfires in your area. You can also find information on fire advisories, restrictions and bans across the province and much more all on your mobile device.

Available for Apple and Android.

Before heading out, please check albertafirebans.ca to determine whether there are any fire advisories, fire restrictions or fire bans in effect for your destination.