HINTON – Firefighters are combating an out-of-control wildfire southeast of Hinton that was 284 hectares in size as of Tuesday (May 27).
The wildfire, which was previously 393 hectares, is located six kilometres west of Mercoal and 16 kilometres southwest of Robb, east of Jasper National Park in the Rocky Mountain foothills.
Derrick Forsythe, an information officer with Alberta Wildfire, confirmed neither Mercoal nor Robb were currently threatened, and the fire has not grown over the last several days.
“We’re going to get some more challenging conditions with the warmer, drier air and higher temperatures,” Forsythe said. “There is potential for fire growth, but they’re making pretty good progress on that one.”
Smoke was initially detected west of Robb in Yellowhead County on Sunday (May 25). Alberta Wildfire firefighters, helicopters and heavy equipment are responding to the blaze, while Yellowhead County firefighters have been sprinkler protection units in Mercoal and Robb as a precaution.
“Firefighters, helicopters and heavy equipment operators have made good progress on establishing containment lines and are continuing efforts to suppress this wildfire along the eastern side,” Alberta Wildfire stated in a Tuesday (May 27) update.
Yellowhead County Mayor Wade Williams emphasized in a statement how their priority was the safety of residents and communities, local industry, recreationists and emergency crews and firefighters.
“We want to remind everyone to be vigilant as conditions can change quickly and affect the wildfire behaviour,” Williams said. “Residents need to stay tuned for updates or alerts and be prepared for responding to changes in the incident.”
Highway 40 south of Hinton remains open as of Wednesday (May 28) morning. Drivers can check 511 Alberta for the latest updates.
According to Alberta’s wildfire dashboard, there are currently 40 active wildfire burning in the province, with 20 classified as out of control. One of these blazes forced Swan Hills residents to evacuate on Monday (May 26).
A small wildfire recently broke out in the Yellowhead Lake area, just west of Jasper National Park. On Saturday (May 24), Parks Canada assisted BC Wildfire, and the blaze has since been extinguished.
The fire danger is currently rated as high within Jasper National Park. Parks Canada’s initial attack crew is on duty, and a helicopter is in the park.
While the wildfire risk is not as high in places such as Rocky Mountain House, which had sustained rain over the last week, Forsythe said conditions were becoming warmer and drier in Alberta.
“We’re expecting to see conditions that will promote active fire growth over the coming couple of days,” he said.
Since there were still pockets of dry grass and fine fuels that haven’t greened up yet, he advised the public to be careful when out in the landscape, such as by making sure campfires are out via soaking, stirring and soaking again.
Off-highway vehicle users should stop periodically and check to ensure there is not a build-up of fine fuel on the hotspots on their vehicles, since this can drop off as they are bouncing along and ignite fires.
“It’s just a time of year we have to be particularly careful, because conditions are ripe for wildfires to start and to grow quickly,” Forsythe said.
