EDMONTON – A fire restriction was issued in Sturgeon County Monday morning as dry conditions persist across the province.
All existing fire permits for burning in Sturgeon County have been suspended, the county’s fire chief said Monday morning. This includes burn barrels and incinerators. No new fire permits or fireworks permits will be issued until further notice.
Backyard fire pits and propane and gas barbecues are still allowed.
Watch below: Fire tornado forms Thrusday afternoon as crews battle grass fire in St. Albert
The latest fire restriction comes as several areas of Alberta—particularly the central and southern regions—are under fire advisories, restrictions or bans.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, 33 regions were under fire advisories, 12 areas were under fire restrictions and 42 regions were under full-fledged fire bans.
The warm weather and dry conditions are the perfect mix for wildfires, according to the province.
“We’ve got the temperatures in the low 20s, we have humidity almost at the same index level, and you couple that with the high winds, that’s the recipe for wildfire,” said Leslie Lozinski, a wildfire information officer.
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In Alberta’s forest protection area, there have already been about 130 wildfires. That’s far ahead of the five-year average of 48. Lozinski said fire crews are ready to go in a moment’s notice.
“We’ve got 481 firefighters, about 40 helicopters out there. We’ve got quite a few pieces of heavy equipment including water tanks, and there’s two air tanker groups in the province.”
Edmonton was not under any fire advisories as of Monday morning.
On Monday afternoon, students and staff at Kisipatnahk School in Maskwacis, Alta. were forced out when a grass fire got too close for comfort.
READ MORE: Grass fire forces evacuation of school on Alberta first nation
An air quality alert was issued for Parkland County Monday morning because of a brush fire burning west of Edmonton. It came after a subdivision about 45 minutes west of the city was evacuated Sunday afternoon.
The air quality alert ended just before 1 p.m. Monday.
READ MORE: Parkland County subdivision evacuated by brush fire, air quality alert issued
As of April 15, Edmonton had received just 10 per cent of the average rainfall total for the month. So far this year, Edmonton has seen just 44 per cent of the average precipitation total, according to Global Edmonton meteorologist Jesse Beyer.
READ MORE: ‘The fear is how dry will it get’: Lesser Slave Lake fire chief on Alberta’s tinder-dry conditions
It’s also been unseasonably warm in the Capital Region; this April is the warmest April Edmonton has experienced in 40 years. With an average temperature of 15C so far this month, the last time Edmonton saw the same average temperature in April was in 1976.
There were 20 wildfires burning in Alberta – three were listed as out of control – as of 4 p.m. Monday.
Last year, the Alberta government spent more than $400 million battling wildfires.
For the latest status on wildfires and fire bans across Alberta, visit the Alberta fire bans website.
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