(Photo Supplied: A fire west of Chard that’s prompted officials to evacuate three oil and gas facilities. May 26, 2015. Environment and Sustainable Resource Development)
Good news for people in Conklin and Janvier.
The 3090 hectare Pony Creek fire that was slowly encroaching on communities is now blowing away from them in a northwest direction.
Smoke should be pushed away from the area and the highway as well.
“Fortunately we’ve seen no new growth in terms of size on the fire, what we are seeing today is we have a southeast wind,” said Forest Information Officer Leslie Lozinski. “Wind is always a problem it causes spot fires and stirs up the current smoldering conditions and we can get torching and candling in the trees.”
Lozinski says crews will be paying close attention during peak burning hours from 3 to 6 p.m. today to make sure firefighters are in a safe position as winds pick up to 20 km/h.
More than 60 firefighters are working on the fire today along with helicopters and the 9,000 horsepower helicopter called the SkyCrane with a 2,000 gallon water and foam tank which can fill up in forty seconds.
The fire is approximately 16 kilometres east of Waddell Road, 20 kilometres north of Leismer, 5 kilometres west of Highway 881, 16 kilometres west of Janvier, and 18 kilometres west of Conklin.
