Photo courtesy of Alberta Wildfire.
Wildland firefighters are continuing to make progress in battling fires in the Rocky Mountain House Forest Area.
Cooler temperatures and precipitation helped to maintain minimal fire spread this week.
Although the rain has ended, moisture in the soil is expected to keep fire behaviour low for the next few days. Crews will take advantage of the conditions to make as much progress as possible in suppressing the wildfire and reducing further spread.
One of the fires, located 12 km northwest of the Ram Falls Provincial Park boundary and 25 south of Nordegg is being held and is not expected to grow beyond set boundaries under current conditions. The wildfire is estimated to be 6,996 ha in size.
Two wildfires in the Kiska Complex, located west and southwest of Nordegg are also being held, and there’s no threat to communities in the area.
One fire located 50 km west of Nordegg has shown very little activity throughout the week. It’s estimated to be 1,962 ha in size.
Another fire, approximately 5 km north of the Crescent Falls Provincial Recreation Area, 9 km northwest of the Big Horn Reserve, and 20 km west of Nordegg is also being held. It’s estimated to be 4,936 ha in size.
The total number of personnel is 132 firefighters and support staff, along with seven helicopters and seven pieces of heavy equipment assigned to assist with suppression efforts.
Firefighters and heavy equipment are continuing to work on building containment lines.
All fires in the Kiska Complex started from lightning in the area.