Courtesy: MD Greenview
Current wildfire status update from Greenview Emergency Operations Centre
May 18, 2023 – 8:00 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
GRIZZLY COMPLEX (Big Lakes County) – SWF057, SWF063, SWF064
May 18, 2023 – 3:40 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. Firefighters with nodwells and helicopters continue to work along highway 33 to extinguish hotspots. Heavy equipment has built fire guard around the small excursion from yesterday and firefighters conducted hand ignition on the southwest portion of the wildfire to reduce fire fuels. Today firefighters will continue to establish hose line on the western flank of the fire, controlling perimeter and working on any flare ups with bucket support. Firefighters will also be assessing ignition area and addressing remaining pockets of fuel in those areas, as well as assessing any values south of the area that may require protection. There are 29 firefighters and two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire.
At this time, the visibility on the highway 33 is being affected. 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 and flareups. Heavy equipment continues to build fire guard around the fire excursion in the East Prairie Metis Settlement and helicopters and firefighters continue to work on any flare ups and hotspots in the Banana Belt area and East Prairie Metis Settlement. On the southern end of the wildfire, heavy equipment continues to build fire guard around the excursion that occurred south of Moosehorn River and will begin to construct a new guard at the southeast end of this wildfire.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 28,427 hectares. No significant growth was observed on the wildfire today however interior areas were smoking.The fire guard on the northeast and northwest side of the wildfire is holding. There are two heavy equipment groups working on this wildfire.
WILD HAY WILDFIRE COMPLEX (South East of Grande Cache EWF037 and EWF040)
May 18, 2023 – 12:30 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 observed on the complex yesterday which allowed crews to focus on extinguishing hotspots. Shifting, gusty winds may increase fire behavior today.
Crews have successfully completed the containment line around EWF-037 and will move on to fire EWF-040 today. Some wet ground conditions may make it challenging for heavy equipment to access parts of this wildfire. Crews are monitoring EWF-040 for changing winds with a focus on the south boundary of the fire.
There are 3 helicopters, 6 pieces of heavy equipment and 4 wildfire personnel working on this complex today.
EAGLE COMPLEX – Fox Creek / Little Smoky (WWF023, WWF028, GWF027)
May 18, 2023 – 12:00 PM
As of May 18, the Dale Horan Incident Management Team is leading firefighting efforts on the Eagle Complex. To see the latest map of the Eagle Complex from May 17, click here.
WWF023 (Eagle Fire) was detected on May 5, is burning out of control estimated at 55,020.4 ha. The wildfire reached the established containment line at the north of the town of Fox Creek and the line is holding steady. The fire remains 10.5 km southeast of Little Smoky.
Resources allocated to this fire include 52 firefighters, a structural protection unit and the Fox Creek Fire Department. 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 CH-47 Chinook is one of the most capable firefighting helicopters available today. Partners from other jurisdictions include an Incident Management Team from Ontario, Helitack crew members from Oregon and Cypress Hills, 50 military personnel, as well as a pre-suppression crew from Quebec to assist with firefighting efforts.
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. Growth was observed on this fire yesterday, how ever containment lines to the north 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 this week. Little or no precipitation is expected. Today, winds are projected to blow from a SE direction.
To view the latest public map of WWF023, click here.
WWF028 was detected on May 13 and is currently out of control at 24.10 ha in size. Air tankers and two crews are working on this fire. As of yesterday afternoon, GWF027 has absorbed this wildfire, both wildfires are being considered as one fire. After this update, information will be written as a combined wildfire. Previous information about WWF028 from this webpage can be viewed from earlier updates.
GP027 was detected on May 13 and is currently out of control at 19,036 ha (as of May 17). 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 15, 2023 at 8:00 pm for 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.
STURGEON COMPLEX (GWF017 & GWF023)
May 18, 2023 – 11:30 AM
The Sturgeon Lake Complex comprises two fires. GWF017 is estimated to be 3900 hectares in size and is out of control, while GWF is estimated to be 3400 hectares in size and is out of control. Today there are 145 firefighting personnel and 95 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. These very large aircraft have huge helibucketing capabilities and are a great help to ground crews.
Weather conditions are dictating fire behaviour and suppression strategies. Relative humidity will remain very low over the next days; this coupled with winds changing direction daily makes for challenging conditions. Suppression efforts are being carried out on many areas of the fires so as to mitigate the effects of the wind direction changing daily.
Today crews will work on extinguishing hot spots, protecting structures and establishing containment lines, particularly on the southern and eastern flanks of GWF017 and the eastern and northwestern flanks of GWF023. Pockets of vegetation burned within the fires yesterday, but both fires remained within their perimeters.
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 18, 2023 – 11:30 AM
This fire is located 21km west of Hwy 40 and 50 km South of Grande Prairie. GWF019 is classified as out of control (OC) and estimated to be 14 540 hectares in size.
Poor visibility, due to smoke cover, limited air operations yesterday morning. When it became safe to do so, firefighting personnel continued building dozer guard and helibucketing hot spots, particularly on the southeastern and southwestern flanks of the fire. Low to moderate fire activity was observed.
Today, 20 firefighters from Ontario are joining operations along with five helicopters and 12 pieces of heavy equipment. Smoke is once again limiting air operations this morning. Flights will resume once the fog and smoke have lifted.
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.
