Fire crews believe they now have now gained the upper hand o a blaze near a hamlet in northern Alberta.
The blaze, currently covering about 240 hectares, is burning about 10 kilometres south of Janvier. It’s not yet fully under control, but Alberta Wildfire says it is 70 per cent contained.
“The other 30 per cent is occupied on the side of a river – a creek,” Wildfire Information Officer Matt Bell said. “So we do have a good stranglehold on that fire at this time. We do seem to be in a good place at this point.”
Officials said the situation was improved Friday. Urban firefighters from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo were pulled out of Janvier, where they had been located in case the fire breached the hamlet's perimeter.
“Obviously, we wouldn’t do that unless we had confidence in the situation down there,” Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz explained.
Municipal and provincial officials are optimistic the hamlet will be protected.
There is a bigger fire west of Janvier, but it’s not close to any communities.
With files from Bill Fortier
