With wildfires burning on nearly every border, the Fort McMurray wildfire management area of the provincial Environment and Sustainable Resource Development department is ramping-up preparations in their own district.

The local team received an additional five firefighters from Ontario, as part of the 126 firefighters who arrived in Alberta from Ontario on Friday.

According to Robyn Haugen, a spokesperson for the Fort McMurray area, one senior firefighter has been dispatched to Fort Chipewyan, while the other four are stationed in Fort McMurray.

“We are pre-positioned to be able to manage anything that comes up,” she says. “Obviously it is still hot and dry out, and we're not expecting a whole bunch of relief in the forecasted future. So we are prepared.”

As of Sunday afternoon, fires were burning in the neighbouring Lac La Biche and Slave Lake areas, as well as across the border in Saskatchewan. The fire near Cold Lake, Alta. had grown to 10,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of all staff at Cenovus' Foster Creek and Athabasca Gas operations.

“Obviously, we're keeping an eye on everything that's going on,” Haugen says. “And we are prepositioned, and we're manned-up.”

“This is what we prepare for all year. This is what we train for, this is what we practice for.”

The department has been flying routine helicopter air patrols throughout most of Wood Buffalo during the fire season. They're also relying on tips that come in through the 310-FIRE line to spot potential wildfires.

Much of Northern Alberta has been placed under an elevated fire hazard warning. Fort McMurray has been placed under an extreme wildfire hazard warning, and Haugen has said that officials are considering instituting a fire restriction for the provincially controlled areas.

A fire restriction would ban campfires and open fires in “backcountry or random camping areas.”

“We're asking people to absolutely make sure their campfires are fully extinguished,” Haugen says. “And to make sure if they're quadding or using their Off Highway Vehicles out in the forested areas that they're making sure they knock off the hot debris and they look behind them for any smouldering”

“This is crucial, crucial right now.”

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