A year after start of Chuckegg Creek wildfire, new hot spot flares up

A wildfire that raged out of control in northern Alberta for months, forcing thousands of people from their homes last spring, is again showing signs of life.

On Wednesday, firefighters were working to extinguish a hot spot of flames on the Chuckegg Creek wildfireexactly a year since the massive fire first ignited.

Thehot spot formed on Tuesday and has burned more than 100 hectares of already charred forest within the existing fire perimeter, sending smoke about 14 kilometres to the west, over the Peace River, and into the community of La Crete.

Victoria Ostendorf, a wildfire information officer for the High Level Forest Area, said smoke from the fires is making residents anxious but nearby communities have no reason for alarm.

The fire is considered under control and no community is at risk.

"There are a lot of folks in our community who are really nervous about the Chuckegg Creek Fire with everything theydealt with last summer," Ostendorf said in an interview with CBC News on Wednesday.

"We would like to reassure our community that Alberta Wildfire is doing everything in their ability to keep this fire under control and extinguish all these hot spots."

'We were anticipating this'

Seeing the fire spring back to life wasn't a surprise, Ostendorf said. Helicopter crews equipped with infrared scanners have been monitoring the areafor weeks.

The fire had smouldered underground through the winter months.

Before the snow fell last year, firefighters had recorded 50 hectares of active ground fire.

Crews excavated the burning earth throughout the winter, but with warmer temperatures and high winds this week, more hot spots are springing up.

"We were anticipating this and we had been patrolling all through the winter," Ostendorf said.

"Unfortunately now, just the landscape in that area, we are faced with the issue of some of these spring hot spots popping up."

Since the snow melted, a series of hot spots have flared up on the eastern edge of the fire perimeter, an area where the soil is rich in peat moss.

Peatland or bog fires present a particular challenge to firefighters. Below the earth, heavy with decay, fires can burn up to 10 feet deep.

Instead of stifling the flames, heavy snow through the winter months often makes the problem worse.

"Fire can really dig deep into peat moss," Ostendorf said."Snow can actually act like a blanket and insulate these areas of ground fire and the fire can really smoulder and grow underground during the winter.

"With the snow-free conditions, we've seen some of these areas of ground fire resurface."

Fire officials are monitoring the fire with daily patrols. A base of operations with crews and heavy equipment has been set up on the east side of the fire perimeter to ensure the flames are quickly extinguished.

As of Wednesday, 25 firefighters and three helicopters were on scene to handle any additional flare-ups.

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The Chuckegg Creek Fire unofficially known as the High Level fire scorched more than 350,000 hectares,causing residents of High Level and neighbouring areas to flee their homes for two weeks.

It was first detected on May 12, 2019. OnMay 19, the fire almost tripled in size overnight, reaching more than 170,000 acres in size andtriggering an evacuation of High Level.

The fire burned out of control for 70 days, eventually spreading south into Paddle Prairie Mtis Settlement, about 70 kilometres south of High Level.

As of Wednesday, the fire risk in the High Level area is considered high.Since March 1, the area has recorded 11 wildfires.

Ostendorf said the fires are a reminder the wildfire risk remains, even with a sweeping fire ban in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic.