This is the last update for today. There will be new updates tomorrow.
End of Day Update June 14, 2023, 7:30 pm
This is the last update for today. There will be new updates tomorrow.
We want to remind everyone that they can also view today’s recorded online Facebook posts on the Town of Edson and Yellowhead County Facebook pages.
Yellowhead County has lifted the evacuation order in some areas north of Highway 16.. Limited services in the area. Be prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours. Be prepared to evacuate within 4 hours.
Edson remains under an Evacuation Order. Marlboro and Millers Lake areas and south of Highway 16 remain under evacuation order. The Town of Edson and Yellowhead County continue to make plans for re-entry for residents when it is deemed safe. This will only be done when it is considered safe for re-entry as there are many considerations to plan for, as many day-to-day services will not be immediately available, as well as emergency health services, fuel and gas to homes and businesses.
The wildfires received 13-19 mm of rain overnight. This is a decent amount of rain and will buy firefighters a few days of quiet fire behaviour, but it is not significant enough to change the very dry conditions in our forest. Firefighters continue to work as quickly as possible to build containment lines and extinguish hotspots in key areas near communities.
Fire crews continue to make progress in fighting fires, creating fire guards, and putting out hotspots. However, even with cooler temperatures, and rain, the fires remain out-of-control and are still close to rural homes, roads and highways, and several communities, including the Town of Edson.
There are over 250 municipal firefighters from Yellowhead County firefighters, the Town of Edson firefighters, and other municipal fire departments from across Alberta. This is in addition to the over 400 firefighters with Alberta Wildfire.
Pembina Fire Complex Information from Alberta Wildfire:
Wildfire EWF031:
This fire is comprised of three fingers that are impacting Edson and Yellowhead County.
EWF031 was detected on May 4 and is located 18 km west of Lodgepole, 5 km northwest of Brazeau Dam and 1.5 km south of Edson. The fire is classified as out of control and is estimated to be 204,284 ha in size.
Willmore Park Finger – This area of the fire is approximately 1.5 km south of Edson.
On Friday, June 9, this finger of the fire progressed 18 km in the northwest direction. Late in the evening, the fire spotted across McLeod River and into Willmore Park.
Crews will continue to work in this area alongside structure protection personnel from the Yellowhead County and the Town of Edson today to ensure 100% extinguishment in this area.
Fire that grew north of the McLeod River covers an area of approximately 250 hectares. Crews continued to work in this area today to ensure 100% extinguishment.
Fickle Lake Finger – This area of the fire is approximately 2.5 km east of Fickle Lake and approximately 5 km south of Marlboro.
Through the day and into the evening of Friday, June 9, this area of the finger grew in the northwest direction, crossing Sundance Road and then progressing across Highway 47.
Crews have completed the protection of power poles to ensure critical infrastructure is maintained.
Carrot Creek Area – This area of the fire is approximately 6 km south of Highway 16 and approximately 10 km southwest of Carrot Creek.
A heavy equipment group has completed guard west of Penn West Road to establish a control line in anticipation for planned ignition operations along the east flank, north of Kwaz Road. Planned ignition operations in this area will only take place should conditions be favourable over the coming days.
East side – This area of the fire is approximately 18 km west of Cynthia.
Conditions on-site have resulted in approximately 350-hectares of new fire growth to the east, approximately 10 km south of Eta Lake. Aerial resources including fixed-wing airtankers and bucketing helicopters responded as weather conditions allow
This area of the fire produced thick smoke which was highly visible to the community of Cynthia and to those transiting along Highway 753.
EWF035: The northern portion of the fire is located 2 km east of Shining Bank Lake, reaching north and east across Township Road 560 and as far south as approximately 2 km north of the Niton Junction railway.
The wildfire is south of Township Road 570, has burnt down to the south and continues to a site two kilometers north of the railroad track in Niton Junction. The fire moved across the Range Road 123 and burnt up to the Lobstick River.
Yesterday, a flare up occurred on the west flank just south of the McLeod River. Crews continued to focus on this area of the fire today to ensure no fire crosses pre-established guards.
To get more detailed information on this fire and all the fires in Yellowhead County, as well as photos, visit srd.web.alberta.ca/edson-area-update.
More information will be available tomorrow. Our next live update on Facebook is June 15, 2023 at noon