BIGHORN/KANANASKIS – Parts of the Bow Valley are under an emergency advisory after a wildfire was reported in the in Kananaskis Country Friday afternoon (Sept. 4).
The emergency alert for a wildfire in the region was issued at 4:34 p.m. The fire is located at the base of Blackrock Mountain, approximately 25 kilometres west of the Hamlet of Benchlands in the MD of Bighorn.
The wildfire is located inside Kananaskis Country's Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park and on the eastern border of Banff National Park.
Ground crews were reported to be on route to the blaze, which was estimated to be 10 hectares in size according to the Alberta Wildfire website. The cause also remains under investigation.
The fire rating for the Calgary Forest Area was very high in the north and extreme in the south as of Friday afternoon.
A fire advisory is in place throughout the MD of Bighorn, and a fire restriction is in place for the Town of Canmore.
Under the restriction, wood campfires on public land, charcoal briquette barbecues, tiki-torches, turkey fryers, fireworks and exploding targets are all prohibited.
Wood campfires on private land an in provincial campgrounds are still permitted along with backyard fire pits and propane or natural gas fuelled barbecues.
The weather may be cooling, however, with Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement Friday afternoon for an "abrupt transition" to fall over the Labour Day long weekend.
Between Saturday evening (Sept. 5) and Monday evening (Sept. 7), rainfall of up to 15 millimetres is expected, with a chance of up to five centimetres of snow at higher elevations in the Rockies.
A low-pressure system is forecast to develop late Saturday and move through the prairies bringing showers, wind gusts and colder temperatures.
"A cold air mass will slide south in the wake of the system and entrench itself over Alberta by Monday morning, with overnight low temperatures falling below 0 C," stated the weather alert.
"Currently, snowfall is expected to remain in and near the mountain parks, however there is a chance of seeing mixed precipitation in areas along lower elevations of the foothills, including Calgary."
Read more from RMOToday.com
