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A forestry helicopter helping fight a wildfire near Evansburg, west of Edmonton, crashed Monday evening, police say.
Evansburg RCMP were called around 6:30 p.m. about an aircraft crash in a remote area west of Highway 22 and north of Highway 16, in an area not accessible by road, RCMP said in a Monday news release.
Cpl. Candace Hrdlicka confirmed Monday the helicopter was helping fight an ongoing wildfire. She said the crash sparked a secondary fire and teams were working to contain it.
Police, firefighters, paramedics and Alberta Wildfire were at the scene Monday evening.
No other information was available.
Alberta Wildfire was expected to give an update later Monday evening in Entwistle.
The wildfire in the Edson forest area, about nine kilometres west of Evansburg, was first detected last Tuesday. By 1 p.m. Monday, the fire was categorized as “being held” and about 175 hectares in size.
There were 83 firefighters working to contain the fire and extinguish hot spots with the help from three helicopters, according to an update on Alberta Wildfire’s website.
Evansburg is around 107 kilometres west of Edmonton.
