Rainy conditions continue to help firefighters in Alberta wildfire battle

More than one million hectares of land in Alberta are now estimated to have burned in a record-breaking spring for wildfires.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 74 wildfires were burning across the province. In Alberta's forest protection zones, there were 71 wildfires — about 10 fewer than listed on Monday. Of these, 20 are still considered out of control.

At a news conference, Alberta Wildfire information unit manager Christie Tucker said cooler temperatures and continued rain showers have dampened wildfire behaviour.

"Many of the major wildfires burning received some rain, which means these are good days for firefighters to make real progress on containing these fires."

But Tucker indicated that the province must be prepared for a longer engagement.

"Even though we have made headway on many wildfires on the landscape, we know that the season is far from over."

Alberta continues to bring assistance from outside the province, including 96 firefighters from the United States arriving Wednesday and a team from Parks Canada that arrived Tuesday.

Tucker said additional firefighters from New Zealand and Australia are also expected to arrive soon.

This is now the second-worst wildfire season — which runs until October — on record, Tucker said. The previous record was set in 1981, when 1.3 million hectares burned.

By this time last year, wildfires had burned only 450 hectares.

Tucker said firefighting efforts on the Sturgeon Lake complex near the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and Valleyview had been reclassified from out of control to being held, meaning it isn't expected to grow beyond its current boundaries.

The complex, made up of two fires, is estimated to be nearly 10,000 hectares.

Around 10,000 Albertans are still waiting to return to their homes as 15 evacuation orders remain in place.

That includes the Municipal District of Greenview, where residents of Fox Creek and Little Smoky still can't go home. The eagle complex, now estimated at around 125,000 hectares, forced the evacuation from some areas more than two weeks ago.