Parks Canada has released their final wildfire update for the Wood Buffalo Complex as this wildfire season comes to an end.
Parks Canada has issued their thanks to the numerous firefighters from around Canada and the rest of the world, the Town of Fort Smith, the nearby Indigenous governments, as well as the residents of the affected communities for their courage and generosity in dealing with this summer-long crisis.
The Wood Buffalo Complex was last estimated at 504,752 hectares in size. There are currently 10 personnel responding which includes 1 helicopter and 4 firefighters.
The Wood Buffalo Complex is classified as ‘being held’ and firefighters continue to patrol and monitor the fire. Areas of the fire where fire growth has been deemed intolerable is now 100 percent controlled. A controlled fire perimeter is the portion of the fire perimeter that is not expected to spread given current resource commitments and forecasted weather and fire behavior conditions.
Though risk to communities has greatly decreased, there has not been enough precipitation to downgrade the status from ‘being held’ to ‘under control’. Drought codes in the Fort Smith area are still above 1,000 and remain at historic highs, while temperatures remain above seasonal averages, resulting in small pockets of active fire within the fire perimeter.
This week, remaining crews will continue to perform danger tree assessments and danger tree felling along the Hay Camp Road to make it safe to travel, as well as action any hotspots along the perimeter, if required. The fire has burned deep in the ground and is expected to ‘hold over’ throughout the winter months in some areas.
Hold over fires remain dormant underground and can flare up again in spring once fuels begin to dry out and daytime temperatures increase. Weather will continue to be monitored closely and should forecasted or observed weather indicate elevated fire behaviour, additional resources may be called in to respond as needed.
