There are three wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta.
HCX001 - Semo Wildfire Complex
There are several wildfires that make up the Semo Wildfire Complex. This includes HWF053, HWF061, HWF081, HWF083.
The Semo Wildfire Complex is located north of John D'Or Prairie, Garden River and Fox Lake. It includes the Caribou Mountains Wildland Provincial Park, between the Ponton and the Wentzel River. These wildfires are currently being managed by an incident management team. Additional resources have been requested and will be arriving in the coming days.
HWF061 is the largest of the wildfires. It currently burning OUT OF CONTROL 21 km northeast of Jon D'or Prairie, 17 km north of Fox Lake and 30 km northwest of Garden River. The closest part of the wildfire is approximately 8 km from highway 58.The wildfire is now estimated to be 39,955 ha in size and caused by lightning.
Heavy equipment operators continue both day and night to the south perimeter of the fire to gain better access. Helicopters will continue to bucket along priority areas. Night vision helicopters worked this fire overnight to extinguish hotspots. Firefighters will begin actioning the fire when safe zones are completed and are ready to access. A weather inversion is keeping smoke low on the fire and it’s making it difficult for access. With smoke hanging over the fire it provides shading from the sun and can lessen fire behaviour but high temperatures will still create fire growth. Airtankers will be used when they can be effective to aid in wildfire operations.
There are 112 firefighters and support staff, eight helicopters and 18 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to the Semo Complex. Additional resources are on the way to support firefighting activities.
Today, the weather forecast is calling for temperatures of 26C with a relative humidity of 40% with winds out of the northwest-northeast at 10-15 km/h.
MCX002 - Cattail Lake Complex
There are several wildfires that are all being managed together under MCX002. This includes MWF046, MWF047, MWF048, MWF051, MWF054 and MWF055. All of these wildfires are classified as under control, except for MWF047. All of these wildfires were caused by lightning.
MWF047 is the largest wildfire that's included in this complex, is approximately 28,000 ha in size and is classified as out of control.
This wildfire is approximately 8 km northeast of industrial facilities, about 50 km northeast Fort McKay and 70 km northeast of Fort McMurray. Yesterday, there was no significant growth towards any infrastructure.
There are 225 personnel currently working on this complex; including 110 firefighters, 30 incident management team members and support staff, and the rest include contractors and pilots. We have 18 helicopters, with most of them completing bucketing operations and 16 pieces of heavy equipment working on day or night operations. We had an incident management team arrive yesterday and more resources are expected to follow over the next few days.
Overnight operations continue each night and have crews working on completing the containment lines on the west and south edges of this wildfire.
Today, we expect similar temperatures as yesterday. A high of 35 degrees Celsius and a relative humidity of 30 per cent. We anticipate winds out of the southwest at 15 km/h. There's a chance of thundershowers, however it forecasts only 1-4 mm, which would make minimal impact on the wildfire. The forecast suggests crossover conditions, which is conducive to extreme fire behaviour. We expect another challenging firefighting day today.
Since winds appear to be favourable for crews to continue work on the south and west perimeter of the wildfire, we are hoping to make good progress on the wildfire today. However, if winds shift, we have plans in place to remove crews if it were to become unsafe. Heavy equipment operators will continue to strengthen dozer guards to create firebreaks and helicopters will continue to bucket on the perimeter as long as it's safe to do so.
MWF060 - Rabbit Lake Wildfire
MWF060 was discovered July 5 and is located approximately 8 km east of the Slave Lake Forest Area border and the Fort McMurray Forest Area border. It is classified as out of control and is estimated to be 3,500 ha in size. Currently, there are 29 firefighters and 10 helicopters working on this wildfire.
A wildfire of note is determined to be of significant public interest and may pose a threat to public safety, communities or critical infrastructure.
Wildfires of note do not typically include mutual aid wildfires located outside of the Forest Protection Area of Alberta. Alberta Wildfire provides assistance on a mutual aid wildfire but is not the lead agency.
The Forest Protection Area of Alberta is divided into ten forest areas. Find the latest updates for each area or subscribe to receive them in your inbox.
Rocky Mountain House Forest Area