A wildfire burning near Fort McMurray, Alberta, has been brought under control and is now considered contained. The containment status means that the fire is no longer spreading and will eventually be extinguished. Alberta Wildfire, the provincial agency responsible for wildfire management, expressed gratitude to the firefighters and support staff who have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to contain the blaze.
The containment of the wildfire is a significant milestone, but work remains to fully extinguish the fire. Alberta Wildfire has assigned 151 firefighters and 15 helicopters to the ongoing operation. Crews will continue to monitor the fire line, searching for and extinguishing any remaining hotspots within the perimeter.
The closest point of the wildfire remains approximately 5.5 kilometers from the Fort McMurray landfill and 4.5 kilometers from the intersection of highways 63 and 881.
The wildfire was first detected on May 9 and forced the evacuation of approximately 6,600 Fort McMurray residents. On May 14, an evacuation order was issued for the neighborhoods of Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek, and Grayling Terrace. Residents were allowed to return home on May 18.
The cause of the wildfire is still under investigation.
Despite the containment of the Fort McMurray wildfire, the wildfire danger within the Fort McMurray Forest Area remains high in the region south of Lake Athabasca and very high north of the lake. Temperatures are expected to reach around 23 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, with winds out of the southwest gusting up to 30 kilometers per hour.
Since the start of the year, there have been 27 wildfires in the Fort McMurray Forest Area, burning over 26,000 hectares of land.
For the latest information on wildfires and evacuation orders in Alberta, visit the Alberta Emergency Alert website. For updates on wildfire status and danger across the province, refer to the Alberta Wildfire website. Information on fire advisories, restrictions, and bans can be found on the Alberta fire bans website.
