MD of Greenview Evening Wildfire Update – May 19th

Courtesy of the MD of Greenview:

Current wildfire status update from Greenview Emergency Operations Centre

May 19, 2023 – 9:00 pm

Please note that the information in the following update is official information as provided by Alberta Forestry. Greenview strives to provide a timely high-level summary of active wildfires within Greenview and will post updates to evacuation orders and alerts as available and provided by Alberta Forestry and the Province of Alberta, which are incredibly busy managing the current wildfire situation in the province.

Additional map resources
Fire Information for Resource Management US/CANADA

Alberta residents who are looking to provide equipment or for anyone who is trained and qualified in firefighting looking to volunteer to help in the wildfire efforts is invited to send an email outlining their desire to assist to EmergencySupportOffers@gov.ab.ca 

STURGEON COMPLEX (GWF017 & GWF023)
May 19, 2023 – 10:00 am

The Sturgeon Lake Complex comprises two fires. GWF017 is estimated to be 4218 hectares in size and is out of control, while GWF023 is estimated to be 3692 hectares in size and is out of control. These updated sizes reflect recent mapping as well as the limited expansion observed along the perimeter, particularly on the northwest flank of GWF023 and on the northeast flank of GWF017. Today there are 146 firefighting personnel and 103 management and support staff on site. Twelve helicopters and 25 pieces of heavy machinery are allotted to the two fires. Among the 12 helicopters are two Chinook helicopters.

To take advantage of yesterday’s east-southeast winds before today’s predicted wind shift, hand ignition operations continued until late last night. The purpose of this was to eliminate unburned vegetation between the guard and the fire line. This allows crews to better control the fire’s direction and behaviour, particularly in the face of ever-changing wind directions. Crews also conducted hand ignitions around Sandy Bay to remove fuels that were threatening structures. These tactics are used in conjunction with Structure Protection Teams who work to keep values wet with a variety of tools including sprinklers and portable pools.

Smoky conditions today will once again determine if aircraft can be safely used on the fires. Regardless, crews will continue building dozer guard, watering containment lines, and conducting hand ignitions. When aircraft can be safely deployed, they will be used for bucketing operations as well as reconnaissance flights to assess any new fire growth, particularly on the west/northwest flank of GFW023.

Evacuation Alert/Order
An evacuation order was updated on May 18, 2023 at 9:15 am for Greenview Residents in the following area The evacuation order remains in effect for everyone East of RR 242, North to TWP RD 722, West of HWY 49, South to TWP 710, West to RR 225, and South to TWP RD 700, including Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation.

BALD MOUNTAIN FIRE (GWF019)
May 19, 2023 – 10:00 am

This fire is located 21 km west of Highway 40 and 50 kilometres south of Grande Prairie. This fire is classified as out of control (OC) and estimated to be 14 540 hectares in size. Twenty firefighters from Ontario along with five helicopters and 12 pieces of heavy equipment are assigned to this fire.

Smoky conditions today will once again determine if aircraft can be safely used on the fire. Work today will include building dozer guard, laying hose, and watering the perimeter.

 Evacuation Alert/Order
Greenview issued an Evacuation Order on May 12, 2023, for all residents located south of Township Road 690, between Highway 40 and the BC Border in the Grovedale area. Everyone north of Township Road 690 to the Wapiti River should be prepared to evacuate on short notice.

EAGLE COMPLEX – Fox Creek / Little Smoky (WWF023, WWF028, GWF027)
May 19, 2023 – 8:00 pm

As of May 19, the Dale Horan Incident Management Team is leading firefighting efforts on the Eagle Complex. Going forward, both WWF023 and GPF027 will be referred to as the Eagle Complex (WCX001).

WWF023 (Eagle Fire) detected on May 5, is burning out of control estimated at 58,858 ha. The wildfire reached the established containment line at the north of the town of Fox Creek and the line is holding steady.

Personnel resources allocated to this fire include firefighters, a structural protection unit and the Fox Creek Fire Department. Partners from other jurisdictions include an Incident Management Team from Ontario, Helitack crew members from Oregon and Cypress Hills, military personnel, as well as a pre-suppression crew from Quebec to assist with firefighting efforts. One 20 member unit crew from New Brunswick arrived yesterday to assist with firefighting efforts. Equipment includes 4 intermediate helicopters with 1 assessor, 3 medium helicopters with buckets and 2 heavy helicopters, as well as dozer heavy equipment groups. The Sky crane helicopter has a capacity of 2,000 galleons of water.

Established Fox Creek structural protection includes protection for all critical infrastructure, containment guards established by dozers groups with support from industry, along with wet sprinklers as further assistance for the containment guards, and ground retardant has been applied around the community perimeter, with support from industry. Additionally, three structural groups from municipalities in the Alberta Wildland Urban Interface Fire Structure Protection Program have been working together on structural protection for the community.

Crews will continue searching for hotspots on an ongoing basis.

Wildfires burn very hot and will burn into the ground. The situation remains ever-changing and conditions on the fire line will continue to vary due to forecasted weather. Containment lines to the north and west of town continue to hold up to to prevent the wildfire from spreading further into the community of Fox Creek.

The fire is burning on the ground surface of the ground but also climbing into the trees and creating a crown fire. Grasses and other fuels remain dry. High temperatures and dry conditions are anticipated to continue. Today, winds are projected to blow from a NW direction.

GPF027 was detected on May 13 and is currently out of control at 28, 959 ha. New information from May 18 will be included on this page. For information up to May 17, please refer to Grande Prairie updates here.

Evacuation Alerts/Orders

An Evacuation Order was updated on May 19, 2023 at 4:30 pm to include Townships 65-25-5, 64-25-5, 63-25-5, 62-25-5, 65-24-5, 64-24-5, 63-24-5, 62-24-5, 65-23-5, 64-23-5, 63-23-5, 62-23-5, 65-22-5, 64-22-5, 63-22-5, 62-22-5, 65-21-5, 64-21-5, 63-21-5, 62-21-5 along with the entire Town of Fox Creek extending down to Highway 947, the Hamlet of Little Smoky and surrounding areas.

An Evacuation Alert remains in place in an area North of the Hamlet of Little Smoky to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

WILD HAY WILDFIRE COMPLEX (South East of Grande Cache EWF037 and EWF040)
May 19, 2023 – 1:30 PM

There are multiple wildfires located south of the Little Smoky River, north of the Wild Hay River and east of Hwy 40 north. These also include the areas near the Willow Haul Road and the Jack Wright Road north of Hinton. These wildfires were formerly reported as five separate fires, but due to more accurate GPS measuring, have been determined to be two larger fires. EWF037 is out of control at 578 ha and EWF040 is out of control at 684 ha.

There was less fire activity yesterday and today on the complex today which allowed crews to make great progress on extinguishing hotspots and building dozer guard. Crews were able to work in unburned areas of the fire where they cooled down some spots that have potential to flare-up. Bucketing operations worked ahead of the heavy equipment groups as they were moving further up the containment lines.

The containment line is now complete around EWF-037. Heavy equipment groups were able to access fire EWF-040 today. They will continue to focus on building containment line this evening and tomorrow.

There were 3 helicopters, 6 pieces of heavy equipment and 4 wildfire personnel working on this complex today.

GRIZZLY COMPLEX (Big Lakes County) – SWF057, SWF063, SWF064
May 19, 2023 – 2:00 PM

In total there are 88 firefighters,14 helicopters and six heavy equipment groups working on the Grizzly complex wildfires.

SWF-057 located approximately 26 kilometres south of Kinuso and over 30 kilometers southwest of the Town of Slave Lake, is classified as out of control and has burned an estimated 8,711 hectares. There was an excursion across Highway 33 yesterday. Firefighters and heavy equipment are making good progress containing it. When visibility improves aircraft will be deployed.There are 29 firefighters and two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire.

At this time, Highway 33 is closed. For the latest road conditions visit https://511.alberta.ca/#:Alerts

SWF-063 located approximately seven kilometers south of High Prairie and approximately 16 kilometres northwest of Swan Hills is classified as burning out of control and has burned an estimated 92,742 hectares. Firefighters continue to work in the northern end of the wildfire extinguishing hotspots. Heavy equipment continues to build fire guard around the fire excursion in the East Prairie Metis Settlement and firefighters are working to extinguish hotspots along the edge of the guard. In the south end of the wildfire, heavy equipment is building a fire guard and firefighters are working on extinguishing hotspots on the excursion near the Moosehorn River. There are 50 firefighters and two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire.

SWF-064 located over 40 kilometers northwest of Swan Hills is classified as out of control and has burned approximately 92 hectares. No significant growth was observed on the wildfire over the past days. The fire guard on the northeast and northwest side of the wildfire is holding. There are two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire.