A large wildfire is burning out of control about 25 kilometers south of Ft. McMurray, forcing the closure of Highway 63.
The blaze has grown to about 300 hectares in size since breaking out at around 12:30 p.m. Sunday, and is blowing smoke south into Ft. McMurray.
Sustainable Resource Development has 20 firefighters on the ground and three helicopters in the air trying to battle the wildfire. However, they are being faced with several obstacles.
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“Right now the winds are gusting up to 30 km/hr, so that makes it a little tougher for firefighters, As well, the temperatures are very high,” said Geoffrey Driscoll, a Wildfire Information Officer, with SRD. “That being said though, as we get more firefighters on the fire, and as it gets a little later into the evening, it’ll make it a little easier for us to fight the fire, and hopefully get it contained.”
As crews continue their efforts, traffic from Highway 63 has been closed in both directions. Motorists are being re-routed onto the secondary Highway 881 down to Lac La Biche, and then West onto Highway 50 to Grassland, and then back onto Highway 63.
There’s still no word on how long the road closure will remain in effect, or what sparked the fire.
The last wildfire that burned north of Ft. McMurray several months ago was over 770,000 hectares large.
More to come…
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