Blaze burning west of Calgary now considered 'held'

Smoke rises from a wildfire in the Calgary Forest Area located north of Ghost River. (Alberta Wildfire/Facebook)

A four-hectare fire detected north of Ghost River on Wednesday night is now considered "held."

Twenty-five wildland firefighters and two helicopters were deployed to battle the blaze.

Alberta Wildfire noted that smoke from the fire is visible in nearby communities, but it is not currently a threat.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Since the start of the year, crews have responded to 37 wildfires in the CFA, which burned a total of 9.5 hectares.

The Calgary Forest Area includes a large area in southwestern Alberta, stretching from areas west of Carstairs, Cochrane and Calgary, down to west of Pincher Creek.

Across the province, there were 26 active wildfires in the Forest Protection Area as of 10 a.m. on Thursday.

Officials are encouraging Albertans to follow fire restrictions and bans, so firefighting resources are free to tackle harder-to-access and unpreventable wildfires sparked by lightning.

The number of lightning-caused wildfire starts in Alberta rose from one last week to six as of Thursday.

In total, Alberta has seen 386 wildfires since January 1 that have burned 27,973.25 hectares.

You can report wildfires by calling 310-FIRE (3473).

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Alex Antoneshyn