Fight fire with fire
FIREFIGHTERS HOPE TO STEER BLAZE AWAY FROM WATERTON PARK BY SETTING SMALLER FIRES
Firefighters are planning to ignite small fires to coax a large wildfire away from the boundary of Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta. Parks Canada said Sunday that crews will conduct an aerial ignition in the Akamina Valley near the park in order to steer the Kenow fire, and embers from it, from heading toward Waterton if weather conditions allow.
John Stoesser, a fire information officer with Parks Canada, explains the smaller fires are meant to counter the effects of the prevailing wind by drawing air away from where the fire is headed.
“In conditions like this, though, when it’s quite windy, the effectiveness isn’t as high as if it was a little bit calmer and the smoke from that fire was going straight up in the air,” Stoesser explained.
“It’s something that we would only do under safe conditions. We wouldn’t put our crew at risk to do that and we wouldn’t put any other facilities under risk.”
The Kenow blaze has burned for over a week in British Columbia near the boundary with Alberta and was estimated Sunday to be approximately 9,400 hectares in size.
The park and the Waterton townsite were evacuated Friday.
Strong winds continued to make efforts to battle the blaze difficult on Sunday, and three spot fires broke out in the Tamarack Basin, south of Festubert Mountain in Waterton. Helicopters dumped water on those fires, Park Canada said, but noted the intense fire and smoke is hampering visibility and fire suppression.
Meanwhile, firefighters from throughout southern Alberta continued their preparations to defend the Waterton townsite, where a pump and sprinkler system has been established on the town’s perimeter.
Stoesser said weather conditions are expected to continue to hamper firefighting efforts in the couple days.
“Intense fire behaviour” is expected due to substantial wind forecast through Tuesday for the area.
Parks Canada is remaining vigilant in their efforts to protect the Waterton townsite, with resources in place to protect infrastructure and facilities.
Resources include at least 185 personnel, six fire crews, seven helicopters, a National Incident Management team, high volume pumps, hoses and sprinkler kits and a specialized structural fire protection team. Additional resources are on call if needed.
Parks Canada has also set up a unified command with the Province of Alberta. They have had additional support from partner agencies including Alberta Wildfire, the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, Pincher Creek Emergency Services, Cardston County Emergency Services, the RCMP, B.C. Wildfire Service, the Calgary Fire Department, the City of Lethbridge, the Town of Coaldale, the Town of Taber, and the MD of Willow Creek.
The mandatory evacuation order for the park and townsite remains in effect. Parks Canada and RCMP safely evacuated all residents and non-essential personnel on Friday.
Alberta Health Services continues to ask people to refrain from visiting the evacuation centres at Cardston and Pincher Creek Health Centres until further notice. Although air quality has improved slightly, smoke is still entering the buildings when doors are opened. People with frail health and respiratory issues can be severely affected by the smoke.