Major wildfires in Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo held or under control

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The major wildfires burning close to Janvier, the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation, Highway 881 and Conklin are either held and no longer spreading or under control. Wildfires burning north and southwest of Fort McMurray are held. Alberta Wildfire no longer considers them to be wildfires of note.

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The cluster of 12 wildfires southeast of Fort McMurray is being called the Kettle River Complex. Most of these wildfires are not close to any communities or infrastructure.

The wildfire in the complex burning about 12 kilometres northwest of Janvier and the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation is considered held. It is about 7.65 square kilometres as of Aug. 5. THere are 50 wildland firefighters and 11 pieces of heavy equipment working on containing the wildfire. Crews are targeting hotspots throughout the region. Helicopters are supporting ground crews with bucketing operations.

This wildfire caused the First Nation’s leadership to evacuate the community for seven days until July 26. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) ended their evacuation warning for Janvier on the same day. MEG Energy cut non-essential staff from their Christina Lake oilsands site.

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Multiple fires throughout the region caused Highway 881 to close and open three times in July. At one point a separate wildfire complex forced Highways 881 and 63 to close at the same time, leaving no exit out of Fort McMurray.

A separate wildfire in this complex is under control roughly 22 kilometres northeast of Conklin, and 10 kilometres southeast of Highway 881 and oilsands sites. This wildfire is about 4.74 square kilometres in size.

It is being contained by 40 wildland firefighters, a division supervisor and a single piece of heavy equipment. Water trucks and helicopters with water buckets are supporting ground crews by extinguishing hot spots located with infrared scans.

North of Fort McMurray is the Cattail Complex. As of Tuesday all three major wildfires in this complex are being held. They were caused by lightning.

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At its closest points, this complex burns 46 kilometres from the Fort McKay First Nation and Metis Nation, 38 kilometres northeast of Fort McMurray, and six kilometres from oilsands and industrial sites. Suncor, Cenovus and Imperial Oil reduced non-essential staff from oilsands sites in the area because of this complex.

This complex is being fought by 82 people, including firefighting crews from Alberta, Ontario, Australia and South Africa. Nine helicopters have been assigned to this complex.

Southwest of Fort McMurray is the Algar Complex. All three of these wildfires are held. This wildfire complex briefly shut down Highway 63 last month. These wildfires were also caused by lightning.

There are 124 people from Alberta and South Africa fighting this complex. They are being supported by 10 helicopters, heavy equipment operators and an incident management team. The complex at its closest points is 10 kilometres west of Highway 63 and 37 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray.

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vmcdermott@postmedia.com

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