The spring wildfire season is underway, when the snow has melted but the forest has yet to green up, which makes the arson arrests of two different men in northeastern Alberta this past week that much more notable.
Both incidents happened in the Chipewyan Prairie First Nation community of Janvier, south of Fort McMurray, where the wildfire status right now is moderate.
The first incident occurred on Monday, Apr. 14.
Wood Buffalo RCMP said officers were were on routine patrol in Janvier when around noon, they spotted small grass fires burning near Nokohoo Road (the main road through the community) and the nearby treeline.
Regional emergency services and Alberta Forestry went out to extinguish the fires, RCMP said.
RCMP said investigators determined the fires were being intentionally lit in the grass near Nokohoo Road and Janvier Drive.
They spoke to witnesses who provided a suspect description, which led to a 41-year-old man being arrested without incident.
Timothy Herman, who lives in the nearby rural area of Chard, was charged with arson. Herman remains in police custody and is next set to appear in court in Fort McMurray on Apr. 23.
The next day on Tuesday, April 15, at approximately 4:15 p.m., Wood Buffalo RCMP and regional emergency services were called to a grass and residential fire at Lot 159 in Janvier.
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They arrived to find a home engulfed in flames.
RCMP said witnesses told them they saw a person pouring an unknown fluid around the property and lighting the fire.
The suspect was still on the scene when Mounties arrived and was arrested without incident. There was no one else in the home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.
Brian Cardinal, 54, from Janvier, was charged with arson.
Cardinal was released on bail under several conditions, and is next set to appear in court in Fort McMurray on May 7.
Alberta Wildfire said right now due to the higher temperatures, rain and rapid snow melt, the fire danger level is moderate in the Lac La Biche and Fort McMurray forest areas.
Over the next few weeks, the wildfire danger level can change quickly and the province said spring wildfires are almost always human-caused.
“Always use caution when doing any burning activities,” Alberta Wildfire noted on its website.
There are 12 active wildfires in Alberta as of Friday, eight of which started this year. All are under control and there are no fires of note in the province.
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