Due to increasing wildfire danger and many active wildfires across the province, Alberta’s government has implemented a fire ban across much of the forest protection area.
The forest protection area (FPA) runs along the foothills and Rocky Mountains, and all of northern Alberta’s boreal forest. Alberta Wildfire takes the lead when a fire breaks out in those areas.
The FPA encompasses rural areas around the communities of Edson and Hinton, Grande Prairie, High Level, Fort McMurray, Peace River, Lac La Biche, Slave Lake and Whitecourt, Rocky Mountain House and Calgary.
The ban is in effect for an area of the province south of Fort Mac and Peace River, and north of the Edmonton region.
Alberta Wildfire said on Wednesday, the area at greatest risk right now isn’t the usual northern forest but instead, the middle of the province.
“The highest risk, oddly enough, is in what we call the ‘agricultural area’ which is kind of that central, southern, eastern portion of the province,” said wildfire information officer Derek Forsythe.
“It does push up into the Lac La Biche forest area a little bit, and there’s moderate fire danger across most of the boreal.”
For that reason, the northernmost parts of the province are under fire restrictions and advisories instead of a ban.
Individual cities, towns, villages and summer villages, as well as federal lands like national parks, are exempt from the province’s ban, but have the authority to issue their own bans and may have complementary bans already in place.
All fire permits issued by the province are now suspended or cancelled, the government said, adding no new permits will be issued while the ban is in place.
Under the FPA ban, all outdoor wood fires, including wood campfires on public land, private land, designated campgrounds and backyard firepits, are prohibited in the forest protection area.
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In addition to the restrictions, the province said Albertans can’t use charcoal briquette barbeques, fireworks or exploding targets.
People can still use propane- and natural gas-powered appliances and indoor wood fires inside a structure, such as a building, tent or RV, that are contained within a device with a chimney and spark arrestor.
The province said it is crucial that Albertans avoid any activities that fall under this ban to prevent new wildfires from breaking out.
The fire ban will remain in effect until conditions improve.
Meanwhile in southern Alberta, firefighters from the Siksika First Nation appear to have gotten the upper hand Wednesday battling a wildfire that broke out a day earlier south of Cluny, but gusting winds are creating some challenges as crews continue to watch for flare-ups.
The fire, which has forced nearby residents from their homes, is amongst a growing number of wildfires burning across Alberta — fueled by warm temperatures and strong winds — with little precipitation in the forecast.
So far the most serious fires have been burning north of Edmonton, but concerns are growing about the fire danger in other parts of the province, prompting officials there to put new fire bans and restrictions in place.
On Tuesday Vulcan County, southeast of Calgary and Leduc County, south of Edmonton, posted fire bans.
That means that no campfires or other outdoor fires are allowed, including in campgrounds, backcountry or random camping areas, burn barrels, wood pellet smokers, charcoal briquettes and fireworks.
A notice posted on the Leduc County website advises residents to “use extreme caution when using anything that could cause a fire to ignite, including grinding or welding tools or even a vehicle’s exhaust in dry grass.”
The county warns that “due to increased winds and dry conditions, fires can ignite and become uncontrollable extremely quickly.”
Most of the counties surrounding Edmonton already have fire bans or fire restrictions in place. (To see the latest, visit the Alberta Fire Bans website.)
There are also fire bans in place in at least 37 provincial parks, including such popular ones as Wabumun Lake and the Ghost River wilderness area.
While the fire situation in southern Alberta is not as dire as it is further north, officials in the Calgary Forest area warn that we are just “starting to see hints of spring a green-up,” meaning there is lots of dead and dry grass that creates an “extreme fire risk” and could fuel fast moving wildfires.
There is currently no fire ban in place in Calgary, but the deputy chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, Coby Duerr, said it’s important for residents of the area to be prepared.
“I think that when we look at it from a climate change perspective we see that there’s a shift — we see more complex events happening, we see them happening more often and we see them happening on top of each other,” said Duerr.
“That is happening across our country and especially in Alberta.”
And the weather forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t appear to offer much help to firefighters.
In Edmonton the forecast high on Wednesday was 24 C with a chance of showers on Thursday and sunny skies the rest of the week.
In Calgary, temperatures in the low 20s are forecast for the remainder of the week with a chance of rain on Monday.
In Lethbridge, there’s no precipitation in the forecast until Monday, with temperatures the rest of this week in the low to high 20s.
More information on all the fire bans and restrictions across the province is available online at: albertafirebans.ca and albertaparks.ca/firebans.
Information on all the wildfires currently burning across the province is also available online at alberta.ca/alberta-wildfire.
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