Wood Buffalo has six holdover fires, backup requested

Parks Canada says six wildfires, all of them holding over from 2023, have been identified in Wood Buffalo National Park so far this summer.

No communities are at risk, the federal agency said in its first update of the season, but additional resources were requested last week and a Parks Canada incident management team arrives on Thursday this week.

Seven four-person crews and three helicopters have been deployed to fires inside the park.

Wood Buffalo National Park experienced large and severe wildfires in the summer of 2023, burning hundreds of thousands of hectares and contributing to the evacuation of Fort Smith.

Holdover fires are those that smoldered through the winter and continued to burn as the snow melted this spring.

Parks Canada says one of the six, 40 km east of Garden River, has three helicopters assigned to it and multiple fire crews.

Three other holdover fires at the northern edge of last year’s burn area were picked up by NWT Fire’s aerial infrared scanning missions. One fire was first identified in February during a bison surveying flight.

“The drought conditions of last summer carried over winter and persist in this area. It is especially important to report suspicious smoke or wildfires if you see them while traveling in the park,” Parks Canada stated.

A recreational fire ban is in place throughout the park.