At one point, the massive wildfire burning in the Wood Buffalo area was dubbed ‘The Beast’, as it spread through tinder dry forested areas, destroying trees and many homes in Fort McMurray – but on Monday, officials listed the fire as being held.

The provincial wildfire update released late Monday morning indicated the wildfire was being held – at last word, the fire had grown to nearly 590,000 hectares.

 

 

That wildfire was discovered on May 1, and quickly grew and spread to the Fort McMurray area, forcing the evacuation of more than 80,000 residents, and destroying 2,400 structures in the City.

The fire continued to burn through the forest – despite efforts by hundreds of firefighters to stop it – finally crossing the Saskatchewan border.

The last official update from provincial officials was released Friday, June 10, and said the fire was nearly 73 percent contained with a perimeter of about 996 kilometres.

As of Monday, there were no out-of-control wildfires burning in Alberta, three were being held, ten were under control and two had been turned over – with only two new wildfires in the last 24 hours, and both of them had been put out.

More to come…