As the wildfire in Fort McMurray passes the 10,000-hectare mark-an area closing in on twice the size of Manhattan Island-all available firefighting resources in the Fort McMurray Forest Protection Area are now dedicated to suppressing the blaze.
As the wildfire in Fort McMurray passes the 10,000-hectare mark-an area closing in on twice the size of Manhattan Island-all available firefighting resources in the Fort McMurray Forest Protection Area are now dedicated to suppressing the blaze.
Meanwhile, Lac La Biche-based firefighters and equipment have assumed responsibility for the eastern wilderness areas of Wood Buffalo. In effect, the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area now reaches to the border of the Northwest Territories.
Personnel and equipment based in Slave Lake will look after Wood Buffalo's western half.
The wildfire devastating Fort McMurray, which has forced tens of thousands of residents to evacuate the area, has burned out of control for several days and damaged many parts of the city.
Evacuees have streamed into Lac La Biche County, finding lodgings at local hotels, campgrounds and public facilities like the Bold Center multiplex.
Now that provincial firefighters in the Lac La Biche region are responsible for a much larger area, more resources are being assigned to the district.
"We've got additional resources and we've dispatched them across the region," said Leslie Lozinski, information officer for the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area.
The POST will update this story as information becomes available.
