Another wildfire update was provided by officials from Alberta Wildfire and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency on Sunday.
As of 3:30 on July 28th, it was noted in the update that fire crews – helped by rain – were able to extinguish nearly 50 wildfires in the past 48 hours and another 17 wildfires are no longer out of control.
An evacuation order for Jasper and Jasper National Park remains in effect with reception centres in Grande Prairie, Calgary, and Edmonton providing support to evacuees.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s update from the province also stated “an out-of-control wildfire is burning about 25 kilometres west of Water Valley in the Municipal District of Bighorn.” According to the province, it was detected on July 22nd, it is currently 80 hectares in size, and it was caused by lightning. Crews continue to work to action hot spots on this wildfire and minimal wildfire behaviour has been observed recently. “The M.D. of Bighorn’s evacuation order for the area east of Highway 40 and west of the Ghost Public Land Access Point remains in effect. An evacuation alert is also in effect for the surrounding area. Impacted residents are encouraged to monitor the Municipal District of Bighorn’s website and Facebook page for updates on fire activity and evacuation information.”
The current situation in Alberta includes 137 wildfires burning across the province in the Forest Protection Area with 34 classified as out of control, 47 are being held, and 56 are under control.
The Governments of Canada and Alberta have also announced that they will match donations made to the Canadian Red Cross to support Albertans impacted by the wildfires.