AB-2025-06701 - Wildfire Reclamation Fort McMurray Fire MWF-069

The Algar Lake Complex (MCX-003) is located in the Fort McMurray Forest Area. • MWF-069 started on July 10, 2024 and as of the end of the 2024 season had a size of approximately 17,962 ha. Fire guard, contingency fire guards, helipads and temporary watercourse crossings were created to facilitate containment and extinguishment of MWF069.

Boreal woodland caribou (Athabasca West and East herds) are also present in the immediate vicinity of MWF-069. No caribou were observed during wildfire operations; however, the establishment of linear features associated with suppression operations which are accessible by predators (e.g., wolves) and humans is undesirable in this area.

MWF-069 suppression operations resulted in the construction of 32 helipads, 11 of which were built with heavy equipment with the remaining 21 being “bush pads” where vegetation was removed by ground crews (slashing/chainsaw). The 9,943.4 meters of dozer guard built on this fire is located is on average, 11 to 15 meters in width. Further to the north-east of MWF-069, an additional 5,240.8 meters of contingency fire guard was built by heavy equipment on the east side of the access road to the Hangingstone facility (AOC). The fire guard leading to the Hangingstone facility is wider than most on this incident, averaging 20 to 30 meters in width. In some areas, an unknown amount of additional gravel will be needed to fill in depressions that have been created from heavy trucks and excessive watering from water tenders.

The project will consist of rolling back the organic material and woody debris from the berms created back onto the disturbed area on fire guards, contingency guard along the access road, and mechanically created helipads. Any watercourse crossings will need to be pulled and the banks reclaimed to a regulatorily acceptable standard outlined in appendix C. All metal pipe associated with the hose crossings and temporary culvert will need to be removed from the work area and disposed of by the contractor completing outlined work.

Wolf Midstream will be conducting work on the pipeline right of way and will use the access road heading to Grazzly Algar Lake SAGD facility. The road building will start late November and fully commence in December last for a duration of 90 days.

Reclamation Summary
1. Total Creek Crossings 15
2. Helipads 9
3. Pipe to be Removed (# of sections) 1
4. Contingency Guard (Hangingstone Sag-D Road Ditch) ~5.25
5. Approximate disturbed area 32 ha
6. Road Repair 4.2 km
7. Total Pipeline Crossing 0

Information/Pre-bid Meeting
Tue•Nov 4, 2025•9:00 am (MT)