There are four wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta.
HCX001 - Semo Complex
Wildfires HWF053, HWF061, HWF081, HWF083 and HWF136 are part of the Semo Complex. Wildfire HWF136 is a new start that was detected July 16 at 3:20 pm and is now included in this complex. All of these wildfires are out of control.
HWF061 is the largest wildfire in the complex and is 49,879 hectares in size. It is located 20 km northeast of Jon D'or Prairie, 19 km north of Fox Lake, 30 km northwest of Garden River and 9 km from Highway 58. It was caused by lightning.
Due to low-laying smoke, access to the fire was limited yesterday. Heavy equipment continues to work on the southeast side to build containment lines towards the northeast. Helicopters continue to bucket on this wildfire and worked on cooling the edges of the spread to the west.
There are over 200 firefighters and support staff, ten helicopters and 43 pieces of heavy equipment working on this complex. An incident management team is overseeing operations. Additional resources will be added later this week.
See the High Level Forest Area update for more information.
MCX002 - Cattail Lake Complex
Wildfires MWF047 and MWF077 are part of the Cattail Lake Complex. Both of these wildfires are out of control. These wildfires were caused by lightning.
MWF047 is the largest wildfire in this complex and is 82,709 hectares in size.
This wildfire is approximately 6.8 km northeast of industrial facilities, 53 km northeast Fort McKay and 68 km northeast of Fort McMurray. Yesterday, this fire experienced growth to the north. The wildfire responded well to the helicopter bucketing operations that took place on the west-southwest portions of the wildfire.
MWF077 is 8,167 hectares in size. This wildfire is located approximately 13.7 km south of industrial facilities, 46 km east of Fort McKay and 38 km northeast of Fort McMurray. Yesterday, helicopters bucketed on areas that had aggressive fire behaviour. Crews were placed in strategic locations to make good work extinguishing hotspots. Today, crews will be positioned along the northwest edge of the wildfire, with heavy helicopters supporting that work.
There are 246 firefighters and support staff, 19 helicopters and 29 pieces of heavy equipment working on this complex. An incident management team is overseeing operations.
See the Fort McMurray Forest Area update for more information.
MCX003 - Algar Lake Complex
Wildfire MWF069 and MWF086 make up the Algar Lake Complex. As a result of a lightning storm, wildfire MWF086 was detected yesterday and is now included in this complex.
Wildfire MWF069 is out of control and is 12,334 hectares in size. This wildfire is located 11 km west of Highway 63 and 40 km southwest of Fort McMurray.
Wildfire MWF086 is out of control and is approximately 235 hectares in size. This wildfire is located approximately 8km north of the MWF069 perimeter.
Helicopter bucketing operations continue to be effective at supporting ground crews in managing this wildfire. Heavy equipment is working on establishing containment lines on the northeast side of this fire with the support of crews and helicopter bucketing.
There are 159 firefighters and support staff, seven helicopters and heavy equipment assigned to this complex. An incident management team is overseeing operations.
See the Fort McMurray Forest Area update for more information.
MWF060 - Rabbit Lake Wildfire
Wildfire MWF060, MWF078, and MWF074 make up this complex. Is located approximately 6 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 collectively 9,543.2 hectares in size (MWF060 - 9,000 ha, MWF078 - 543 ha, MWF074 - 0.2 ha). It was caused by lightning.
There are four firefighters and two helicopters working to contain this complex.
See the Fort McMurray Forest Area update for more information.
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