Fire Information Update—June 27, 2014
There are currently 13 wildfires in Wood Buffalo National Park. Fires 3, 7 and 8 are within the whooping crane nesting area but currently pose no threat to the cranes. Friends of the Wild Whoopers is providing this information in cooperation with Parks Canada for our Canadian viewers who may be visiting the park in the near future.
Fire 1 is located in the Caribou Mountains 5 kilometres to the west of Isidore Lake. It is currently 21,000 hectares. It is being monitored and currently poses no threat to values at risk.
WBNP Fire 2 is located four kilometres north of Pine Lake and to the immediate west of the Pine Lake Road and covers 43,267 hectares. A Parks Canada Incident Management Team and additional Parks Canada fire crews are working with local WBNP Fire Management. This fire and fires 4 and 5 are being managed as the Fire 2 Complex. Fire fighting activities along the Pine Lake Road and north of Pine Lake continue. Fire crews are monitoring and extinguishing hot spots and conducting controlled burnout operations to reduce high-risk fuels that could present a threat to Pine Lake Road. High volume sprinklers have been deployed to Pine Lake for facility protection should it be required.
Fire 3 is a 200 hectare fire located approximately 10 kilometres south of NWT Highway 5 and 75 kilometres west of Fort Smith. It is being monitored and currently shows little fire activity.
Fire 4 is a 4684 hectare fire located 12 Kilometres south of Highway 5 and 45 kilometres to the west of Fort Smith. Growth on this fire is currently low, but a plan to keep the fire well to the south of the highway has been implemented. The plan involves small-scale strategic burnouts to remove volatile fuels and refreshing the cat guard along the northern park boundary to assist with containment. This fire poses no threat to Highway 5 at this time.
Fire 5 is a 43 hectare fire located 35 kilometres southwest of Fort Smith and 20 kilometres south of Highway 5. Is it being monitored and currently poses no threat to any values at risk.
Fire 6 is a small spot fire located in a remote area in the west of the park about 12 kilometres north of the Caribou Mountains. It is being monitored and currently poses not threat to values at risk.
Fire 7 is a small spot fire located 20 kilometres north of Highway 5. It is being monitored and currently poses no threat to any values at risk.
Fire 8 is a small spot fire located in the extreme northern end of the park. It is being monitored and currently represents no threats to any values at risk.
Double click on the following link to read about the fires and to view maps of fire locations. FIU June 27 2014 (2)
***** FOTWW’s mission is to protect the Aransas/Wood Buffalo population
of wild whooping cranes and their habitat. *****
