There are three wildfires of note in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta.
Jasper Wildfire Complex
Wildfire ANP002 (formally ANP002 and ANP003) is classified as OUT OF CONTROL and Parks Canada is reporting the size to be 34,000 ha. The north and south fires both spread towards the Jasper townsite and have merged together.
Continued cool and wet weather helped minimize the fire's intensity for a second day in a row and helped crews advance fire suppression work. Yesterday, crews continued putting out hot spots near Marmot Basin alongside mopping up fire debris around lakes Edith, Annette and Terfoil, and Moberly and Sixth bridges. Personnel are working toward the goal of securing the northeast area of the fire to eliminate the threat to the town. Crews will also continue cleanup work in the Kerkeslin and Athabasca Island campgrounds.
Alberta Wildfire is assisting Parks Canada with the Jasper Wildfire Complex by providing firefighters, heavy equipment and a helicopter.
For the most up-to-date information on this Complex, visit Parks Canada's website.
The Municipality of Jasper has issued an evacuation order for Jasper National Park. Visit Alberta Emergency Alert for more information.
Highway 16 remains closed. Visit 511 Alberta for more information on highway closures.
HCX001 - Semo Complex
Wildfires HWF053, HWF061, HWF081, HWF083, HWF136 and HWF141 are part of the Semo Complex. All of these wildfires are out of control.
HWF061 is the largest wildfire in the complex and is 97,526 ha in size. It is located 19 km northeast of Jon D'or Prairie, 15 km north of Fox Lake and 1.9 km north of Highway 58. It was caused by lightning.
HWF136 is 6,134 ha in size. It is located north of highway 58 and approximately 13 km northwest of Garden River.
HWF053 is approximately 709 ha in size. It is located directly above HWF061.
Other fires in this complex are within or nearby Caribou Mountain Wildland Provincial Park. These fires will be monitored for growth and activity.
Firefighters, heavy equipment and helicopters continue their efforts along HWF136 and the southern perimeter of HWF061. A substantial amount of work has been done on the southern end of HWF061, including the completion of a fire guard 2 km west of Foggy Tower Road heading eastward. Crews and helicopters continue to clean up hot spots along this guard. Firefighters and helicopter bucketing efforts focused on extinguishing hot spots on the north perimeter of HWF136 yesterday and strengthening containment lines.
There are 449 firefighters and support staff, 23 helicopters and 111 pieces of heavy equipment working on this complex. An incident management team is overseeing operations.
See the High Level Forest Area update for more information.
Kiska Complex:
The Kiska Complex, which includes wildfires RWF062, RWF063 and RWF064, was designated a wildfire of note on August 1 after smoke from wildfires in the area resulted in the closure of a portion of the Forestry Trunk Road.
RWF064 is classified as out of control at 6,966 ha in size. It is located approximately 12 km northwest of the Ram Falls Provincial Park boundary and 25 km south of Nordegg.
RWF063 is classified as being held at 1,962 ha in size. It is located approximately 17 km west of wildfire RWF062 and 50 km west of Nordegg. This wildfire has shown very little activity throughout the week.
RWF062 is classified as out of control at 4,936 ha in size. It is located approximately 5 km north of Crescent Falls PRA, 9 km northwest from the Big Horn Reserve and and 20 km west of Nordegg.
Firefighters and heavy equipment continue work on building containment lines around the east and south sides of RWF064, taking advantage of the current conditions to progress the suppression of the wildfire and reducing further spread. The continued coolers temperatures and precipitation has lowered fire behaviour and growth. Warmer and dryer days are projected, which will likely cause wildfire behaviour to increase.
There are currently 141 firefighters and support staff, seven helicopters and 19 pieces of heavy equipment assigned to the Kiska complex to support suppression efforts.
Notice of road closure: The Forestry Trunk Road (Highway 734) is closed between the Ram Falls Airport and Township Road 383A, north of Nordegg due to the proximity of RWF064 and heavy smoke causing dangerous driving conditions.
For the latest road conditions, please check Alberta 511.
A number of provincial parks and recreation areas have been closed due to wildfire activity. Ram Falls Provincial Park, Peppers Lake Provincial Recreation Area (PRA), Peppers Lake Staging Area PRA, Elk Creek PRA Campground, Elk Creek Fish Pond PRA, Alymer PRA and Crescent Falls PRA are all closed.
Visit the Alberta Parks website for more information.
See the Rocky Mountain House 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.