A province-wide fire restriction has been put in place.
All outdoor fires are now prohibited on public lands, including backcountry and random camping areas, excluding Calgary’s forest protection zone.
While there have been evacuation alerts to two Alberta communities this past week, no wildfires are classified as out of control as of the April 24 provincial weekly update.
“Alberta continues to experience higher than normal wildfire risk and activity for this time of the year,” said Minister of Forestry and Parks Todd Loewen.
The situation reinforces the need for collective action, he continued.
“We must all do our part to prevent human-caused wildfires and protect our communities and forests in the coming weeks.”
Almost all of the wildfires in Alberta so far this year are human-caused.
Loewen encouraged Albertans to employ FireSmart principles around their homes and stay abreast of advisories and alerts.
Conditions remain precariously dry, said Alberta Wildfire provincial information officer Josee St-Onge.
“We need significant and continued rain to overcome the drought conditions that we are experiencing across many parts of the province,” she said.
“This is a critical time for wildfire in Alberta. Snow has melted and exposed dead and dry vegetation, which is extremely flammable for a wildfire. Until vegetation green-up happens, wildfires will easily ignite and can spread very quickly.”
As of April 24, there were 63 wildfires burning in the forest protection area of Alberta with 56 under control and the remaining seven classified as being held.
There have been 205 wildfires that have burned 755 hectares so far in 2024. The province’s five-year average for this time of year is 120 wildfires and 230 hectares.
“Alberta's government continues to add more firefighters to its ranks every week, enhancing our response capacity as we move further into the 2024 wildfire season,” Loewen added.
“Our personnel have been working tirelessly to protect our communities and forests, with 200 wildfires already fully extinguished just this year. While this elevated number of new wildfires starts in 2024 points to concerning levels of wildfire danger, it also means our response tactics are working.”
