The Fire Danger rating in the Wood Buffalo National Park has gone back up to “Extreme.”
There are 183 personnel and 17 helicopters responding to wildfires in the Park today.
Yesterday saw strong winds from the west gusting upwards of 60km/hr, as forecasted Fire 7 showed significant activity and spread eastwards towards communities. Fire personnel were pulled from the fireline by 1230h yesterday and aircraft were unable to fly past 1400h.
Several crews and aircraft had to be pulled from the line, as they were unable to to suppress such extreme fire behaviour and it’s extremely unsafe for them to be anywhere near the fire’s head.
Later in the evening, wind speeds decreased which reduced the rate of fire spread. Fire personnel from all fire agencies monitored the fire progress via vehicle and thermal imaging overnight.
Parks Canada is currently working closely with the GNWT, Alberta, and the town of Fort Smith to keep communities informed and safe.
Today, structural protection crews, will assess impacted areas from last night’s fire spread and continue to run sprinkler systems. The incident management teams will also be looking at broader containment strategies to ensure the safety of the communities given continued challenging fire behaviour conditions.
While forecast winds are not as strong and gusty as yesterday, current drought conditions are contributing to continued extreme fire behaviour and will lead to additional fire growth. Unsettled atmospheric conditions may bring localized wind gusts, affecting some areas of the fire more than others.
