Wildfires on the NWT-Alberta border have crept further south, but the risk to NWT communities remain the same.
An update was given during an Aug. 23 press conference.
“It did grow since our last update, but it moved towards the Alberta side,” said wildfire Information Officer Jessica Davey-Quantick. “We’ve got 308 personnel on the ground. They were successful yesterday in cutting off fuel to the fires and will proceed again when safe to do so.”
A fire break near Fort Fitzgerald was breached yesterday and the fire is now 3.5 kilometres from the community. Structural sprinkler systems have been deployed to hold back the fire. The complex has also crept closer to Thebacha, now 6.2 km away.
“Today dozers will work to strengthen the perimeter of the fire that had breached the southerly guard,” says an update on the Wood Buffalo National Park, Parks Canada social media feed. “This will allow us to re-establish protection from the south. Yesterday two pumper trucks were positioned in Fort Fitzgerald ready to operate if the fire had reached the town.
“The fire jumped over Pine Lake Road and was burning on either side of the bridge near Salt River day use area. Structural protection was turned on.”
Straddling the Alberta-NWT border, the Wood Buffalo Complex has grown to 453,012 hectares in size. It remains four kilometres away from Fort Smith and 2.8 km from the Bell Rock subdivision.
Fort Smith and Fort Fitzgerald remain under evacuation order and a state of local emergency.
“Despite the overall fire growth, there was no significant growth towards Fort Smith last night,” says the Wood Buffalo update. “We recognize that this distance has not changed in the last week or so and we would like to stress that this is not an indication that the fire is not growing or that the threat is gone.
“Crews have worked tirelessly along the northern flanks with helicopter bucketing, dozer guard strengthening and direct attack to try to stop the spread towards communities.”
Weather held at 24 C today with 30 per cent humidity and is expected to be the same tomorrow. Winds gust up to 25 kilometres over the day from the North but are expected to change to southeasterly winds overnight.
Firefighters are looking for opportunities to do controlled burns to remove excessive fuel before the wildfire gets to it. Bucketing campaigns continue on the fire near Hay Camp Road.