Crews are responding to wildland fire involving a natural gas pipeline north of Obed Lake with no communities threatened at this time.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the wildland fire was burning out of control 28 kilometres northeast of Obed Lake, or 35 kilometres northwest of Edson and 55 kilometres northeast of Hinton.
Upon arrival, Yellowhead County Fire Department had determined that there was pipeline involvement.
Yellowhead County stated in a Facebook post that it worked with the gas company to shut the pipeline in, and there is no more leaking gas.
TC Energy confirmed in a statement that it was actively responding to an incident involving the NGTL natural gas system.
“We are coordinating with emergency first responders. The affected section of the pipeline has been isolated and shut down. There are no reported injuries. Our primary focus right now is the health and safety of responding personnel, surrounding communities and mitigating risk to the environment.”
TC Energy added that it was making all appropriate notifications to regulators, customers, stakeholders and Indigenous communities.
Later in the evening, the fire was classified as being held, meaning the wildfire is not anticipated to grow past expected boundaries.
The wildfire was about 10 hectares in size and was visible from Highway 40 north and Highway 16.
Alberta Wildfire is working closely with industry and the Yellowhead County Fire Department.
There were eight pieces of heavy equipment, 12 wildland firefighters and additional resources from Yellowhead County and industry at the incident. Airtankers and helicopters were also working with the firefighters.
On Wednesday, 28 wildland firefighters, heavy equipment and a helicopter will assist with extinguishing the wildfire.
Alberta Wildfire said fire crews will begin hotspotting, which involves digging into the ground and looking and feeling for any hotspots that could re-surface.
The cause of the wildfire remains under investigation.
A fire advisory remains in effect for the Edson Forest Area, with the current wildfire danger level at “moderate.”
