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A Parks Canada incident management team will arrive on Tuesday afternoon to assume command of operations against 14 wildfires burning in Wood Buffalo National Park.
The fires, all started by lightning last week, are now collectively known as the Davidson-Pine Lake complex. They are being fought by 73 personnel, four dozers and five helicopters.
One of the immediate priorities is protecting Pine Lake, a recreation area popular with Fort Smith residents, from a wildfire nine kilometres away that has burned 12,000 hectares to date.
Parks Canada said on Tuesday that crews are maintaining sprinkler lines on all infrastructure at Pine Lake and have only one small fuel break left to strengthen.
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The fire is 70 km from Fort Smith and is not threatening the community, Parks Canada stated.
To the southwest of the park, the Davidson Lake fires have now burned a combined 30,000 hectares and are 26 km northeast of Garden River. Parks Canada said a community meeting was taking place in Garden River on Tuesday “to discuss options and listen to community concerns.”
Garden River has a population of around 600 people. It is facing both the Davidson Lake fires to the northeast and the Paskwa or Fox Lake wildfire to the south.
