Lynx Lake fire closes roads in Wood Buffalo National Park

Wood Buffalo National Park has closed both Carlson’s Road and the Pine Lake Road, south of the Pine Lake day use area and campground, due to a wildfire.

The Pine Lake campground is approximately 60 km south of Fort Smith.

The Lynx Lake fire, dormant from 2018, began on May 18 between the two closed roads.

On Friday, Parks Canada reported the fire was 70,000 hectares in size and was being managed.

In response to the fire, the park has deployed four helicopters, five fire crews, and a national incident management team.

Parks said infrastructure protection is in place.

Wood Buffalo National Park’s May 31 fire status report showed four fires so far in 2019: one managed, one under control, one observed, and one extinguished.

In total, nearly 74,000 hectares has already burned in the park.