EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally said the out-of-control wildfires were burning near Fox Creek, which was incorrect. It has since been updated to say they are burning near Fox Lake.
Five wildfires were burning out of control in Alberta on Friday, all southwest of Fox Lake, which is located 670 kilometres north of Edmonton.
Alberta Wildfire information officer Leah Lovequist said the province is throwing a lot of manpower and resources at the fires.
“We have over 200 firefighters, two special teams of incident management personnel, 21 helicopters, an air tanker crew and various pieces of heavy equipment working on these fires,” she said on Friday.
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“Some of these fires are moving today, they are growing. However, they are a significant distance away from communities.”
In all, there were 28 wildfires listed in Alberta on Friday. More than half, including the five that are out of control, are in the High Level Forest Area. While the biggest fire is over 3,400 hectares, some are under one hectare in size.
Watch below: On Aug. 8, 2017, Fletcher Kent filed this report about a University of Alberta researcher who has found a way to use artificial intelligence to help predict wildfires.
More firefighters have been deployed throughout the province because of lightning storms that were expected Friday.
“It’s been extremely dry,” Lovequist said. “We have had lightning move into the area.”
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