Alberta wildfire almost entirely contained: Parks Canada

A wildfire at the Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada is now 95% contained and is “being held,” Parks Canada reported on Friday.

A thermal scan of the Waterton Lake wildfire, near the Montana border, confirmed the fire is “relatively quiet, with some hot spots,” Parks Canada said in a press release. Five fire crews and one helicopter continue to battle the blaze.

Parks Canada added that it continues to work with the U.S. National Park Service to manage a forest fire near Goat Haunt, Glacier National Park. That fire remains approximately 10 hectares in size and is about 100 metres wide and one kilometre long. It is on the slopes of Campbell Mountain, on the west side of Upper Waterton Lake in Glacier National Park.

Parks Canada said in the release that fires across the Pacific Northwest continue to grow due to dry, windy conditions and the smoke will impact the Canadian side of the border for “at least the next day or two.”

Last week in British Columbia, the Sidley Mountain wildfire in the Penticton Fire Zone began in Washington state and spread across the border east of Osoyoos. At the time, the fire, caused by lightning, covered about 50 hectares and prompted an evacuation order for residents of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Regional District of Kootenay Boundary.

As of Aug. 13, the BC Wildfire Service has responded to at least 88 new wildfires in the province’s Southeast Fire Centre. About 500 wildfires have occurred in the region since April 1, 2015.