According to officials the Sturgeon Lake Complex fire, which consists of the Sturgeon Lake and Little Puskwaska fires, continues to burn aggressively. During Tuesday’s video update MD of Greenview CAO Stacey Wabick explains the reason for this description is that it appears to be “really burning” the fuel available within the fire borders, with officials not seeing a lot of movement.
“Greenview took some action [Monday] and we built about six kilometres of fire guards that are between the fire and the Town of Valleyview and a lot of our rural residents around Valleyview,” Wabick says. “This was done through Greenview in conjunction with forestry, and local contractors on local private farmland.”
“We have worked with local farmers they have been great in giving access to their land and also assisting us in making sure there is black dirt where we can get it.”
By Tuesdays night he says 11 to 12 kilometres of fire guards was expected to be completed. Both the Sturgeon Lake and Little Puskwaska fires were estimated to be 3,900 hectares in size as of 9:55 p.m. Tuesday.
The Eagle fire between the Town Fox Creek and the Hamlet of Little Smoky as of 8:15 p.m. Tuesday was approximately 46,915 hectares in size. According to officials, structural protection has been set up for Fox Creek including sprinklers, fire guards, and ground retardant as the fire is located roughly 4.5 km north of the town. On Wednesday the winds are expected to shift to the northeast, with high temperatures and dry conditions expected throughout the week.
“At times in that area, there is extremely heavy smoke,” Wabick says. “The highway remains open, but please everyone driving down Highway 43 in that area, please be careful because it was quite bad yesterday.”
The Crooked Lake wildfire as of 9:55 p.m. Tuesday was estimated to be around 20,000 hectares and is located 27 km SW of Little Smoky. While the Wild Hay wildfire southeast of Grande Cache is made up of two fires, with the first being an estimated 578 hectares and the second being an estimated 684 hectares in size as of 10:08 p.m. Tuesday.