UPDATE: Helicopter water drops continue to fight Boundary Creek fire in Waterton Lakes Park
WATERTON LAKES NP — Saturday, September 8, evening UPDATE: Aerial suppression of the Boundary Wildfire continued into Saturday (Sept 8) evening. Three Parks Canada helicopters and one U.S. heavy helicopter bucketed water on the east perimeter of the wildfire throughout the day. Despite windy conditions, the action was able to suppress fire activity on hot spots and limit fire growth.
U.S. and Canadian fire managers have been responding to the wildfire since it was first observed on August 23. Fire activity increased due to dry and windy conditions on Friday (Sept 7) and burned across the U.S. / Canada border and into Waterton Lakes for the first time since the wildfire started.
The Deputy Incident Commander of the U.S. Northern Rockies Incident Management Team (IMT) is stationed in Waterton Lakes National Park, working closely with Parks Canada Fire Managers.
The IMT has 21 firefighters assigned to this fire and stationed at Goat Haunt. Once the eastern hot spots are knocked down by heli-bucketing, and it is safe to do so, ground crews will assess the spots and determine future actions.