— Crews battling a wildfire near the U.S. border in Alberta are hoping an avalanche path will prevent the flames from spreading further into a national park that was badly burned last year. Dry and windy conditions Friday afternoon pushed the Boundary Wildfire north across the border for the first time into Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta. “When the fire burns through those coniferous trees leading towards the avalanche path, those are a little bit more flammable. “So that’s why it’s a good place to drop water from the helicopters.”Parks Canada said two helicopters were on the job at the avalanche boundary on Saturday and that a third chopper was on its way. An evacuation alert was issued last month for Waterton Lakes National Park due to the fire that’s been burning on the U.S side in Glacier National Park, but the alert was later lifted when the area got rain.

Source: National Post September 08, 2018 21:00 UTC