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Officials elect to let wildfires play out north of Fort Chipewyan

Last Updated Jul 4, 2022 at 8:48 am MDT

Trees burnt from the wildfire. NKS Photography. Used with permission.

Officials in Alberta say they’re allowing a number of lightning-sparked wildfires in the Fort McMurray Forest Area to burn.

Their reasoning is the fires are in remote areas and aren’t threatening communities or resources.

As of publication, there are 10 wildfires currently burning across Wood Buffalo, and all are classified as being held.

This includes fires burning north of Fort Chipewyan, with the largest being over 8000 hectares in size.

Alberta Wildfire says they’re allowing the wildfires to play out their natural role on the landscape, adding that doing so also has other advantages.

They say it creates a break in continuous fuels, reduces the intensity of fires and provides safety zones for firefighting crews to work from.

This articles includes files from The Canadian Press.