Suspected human-caused wildfire being fought at Peace Point

Parks Canada says a “suspected human-caused fire” is burning at Peace Point and being tackled by crews and helicopters.

Peace Point, south of Fort Smith and surrounded by Wood Buffalo National Park, is a Mikisew Cree First Nation reserve on the Peace River.

Parks Canada says crews “personnel detected a suspected human-caused fire in the backyard of a Peace Point residence” on Friday evening.

That fire “quickly spread to a nearby structure and surrounding forest,” Parks Canada reported in a Saturday afternoon update.

“Parks Canada fire crews actioned the fire immediately. Three helicopters and three fire crews responded and worked until last light. Today, two fire crews and two helicopters returned to the area in the morning to continue suppression efforts, focusing primarily on limiting spread of the fire to the east,” the update continued.

“An initial field assessment identified the fire at 10 hectares. At this time, the fire has not spread to the Pine Lake Road-Carlson’s Road intersection and is contained within the Peace Point Mikisew Cree First Nation reserve area.”

Wood Buffalo National Park is already handling multiple holdover fires from 2023 that have begun burning again.

A Parks Canada incident management team was summoned to the park this week to reinforce firefighting efforts.

“Wood Buffalo National Park remains in an extreme drought. There is a recreational fire ban in place for the entire park,” Parks Canada stated.

“If you’re out on the land, please be careful with cigarette butts and other things that may start wildfires. It is very dry out there – wildfires can put on significant growth in minutes under these conditions.”

Elsewhere, three holdover fires from 2023 toward the park’s northern edge are now considered under control.

A separate fire 10 km from the southern shore of Isidore Lake, in the southwestern area of the park, is now estimated at 3,800 hectares.