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Parks Canada says 178 kilometres of the perimeter of the Klewi Complex – a wildfire in Wood Buffalo National Park near Highway 5 – is now controlled or contained.
The Friday night update said the wildfire is measured at 53,609 hectares and the total fire perimeter is 343 kilometres long. Parks Canada said there is no threat to communities or infrastructure at this time.
The Klewi Complex includes a large fire that’s been burning since May 22 and crossed the border of the national park into the NWT on June 4, and a smaller fire discovered in Wood Buffalo on May 30.
Parks Canada said a perimeter that is contained means the wildfire is not likely to spread over the perimeter under current and forecast conditions. A perimeter that is controlled means the wildfire in that area received “sufficient suppression action to ensure no further spread of the fire.”
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The best-secured perimeter is along the northern, eastern and southern borders “where further wildfire growth would pose the greatest risk to incident management priorities,” Parks Canada said.
“This milestone reflects the exceptional efforts of fire crews, air operations, ignition specialists, incident management personnel and the many others who have supported this response.”
The wildfire is burning 21 kilometres to the northeast of NWT Highway 5.
Parks Canada said infrared drone scanning on Thursday found 44 hotspots along the eastern perimeter of the fire. More drone scans were planned for Friday night along the northern perimeter.
Elsewhere, earlier in the week NWT Fire reported a new fire in the Dehcho, 100 kilometres west of Fort Simpson on the western side of the Mackenzie Mountains.
NWT Fire reports the lightning-caused fire, FS001, was small in size at the latest assessment and posed no current risk to communities, infrastructure or cabins.
