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Rabbit Fire grows in size

May 23, 2018 | 5:00 PM

The fire inside the Prince Albert National Park has grown in size and now has about 200 firefighters working to knock it down, with new additions arriving from Quebec and the Northwest Territories in recent days.

The Rabbit Creek Fire is now more than 29,000 hectares and continues to burn in the southern portion of the national park. The fire has been burning since May 4 when parks staff started a controlled burn that later blew out of control.

Parks Canada issued an update on the fire Wednesday. Firefighters from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are also working on the fire with help from 13 helicopters, two water tankers, and five pieces of heavy equipment.

Precautionary work is continuing to protect infrastructure and resources around the Waskesiu town site, Parks Canada said Wednesday. The Rabbit Creek Fire is still outside the town, but park officials say work is being done to eliminate flammable fuels around local buildings and green spaces. A fire ban remains in effect for the park.