Campers and backyard partiers can forget about fires this week now that two towns and the province have brought in near total fire bans for much of the region.
Campers and backyard partiers can forget about fires this week now that two towns and the province have brought in near total fire bans for much of the region.
Alberta Agriculture announced a total fire ban throughout Alberta's forested areas as of noon Monday.
The ban applies to all open fires, campfires, charcoal fires, turkey fryers and tiki torches, and affects pretty much everything east of Drayton Valley or north of Whitecourt (an area known as the Forest Protection Area). The province has also suspended all fire permits in this zone and won't issue any new ones.
While St. Albert and Sturgeon County are actually improving in terms of fire safety as the grass greens, much of central and northern Alberta is still extremely dry, says Nick Nimchuk, a fire weather meteorologist with Alberta Environment.
“The temperatures have been high, they have been above normal, but the thing that really drives our business is the humidity,” he explained.
Alberta Environment reported that there were 66 wildfires in Alberta as of noon Tuesday, 19 of which were out of control.
Weeks of very low humidity have helped dry out most of Alberta, making it very, very vulnerable to fires, Nimchuk said. About the only thing we've had in our favour in recent weeks has been a lack of wind, which has slowed the spread of the flames.
Gibbons fire chief Eric Blowe ordered a total fire ban for his town on Friday due to weather conditions, and said he didn't plan to lift it until he saw some rain.
The ban means that all open fires, fire pits, fireworks and other anthropogenic conflagrations were banned from the town, and that all fire licences were suspended.
“You can have a propane or a natural gas barbecue,” he said, when asked what was banned. “That's it.”
Blowe said he was particularly concerned about the nearby Sturgeon River Valley due to the amount of dry kindling in it.
“In dry conditions like this, it doesn't take much to start a fire.”
Morinville brought in its fire ban last Thursday. Like the one in Gibbons, it allows barbecues but bans all outdoor fires and fireworks displays until further notice.
“The conditions are just too dry,” said Morinville fire chief Brad Boddez.
Sturgeon County is sticking with the fire restriction it introduced last May 11, said county fire chief Pat Mahoney. The restriction suspends all fire permits (meaning burn barrels are a no-no) but allows the use of backyard fire pits and barbecues.
Redwater brought in a similar fire restriction on May 22.
St. Albert, Legal and Bon Accord did not have any fire restrictions or bans in place as of Monday.
Alberta has had some 687 wildfires so far this year, or well above the five-year average of 526, reports Alberta Environment. Some 18,435 hectares have gone up in smoke as a result – an area equivalent to 1.6 times the size of Morinville.
While this week could be dicey, Nimchuk said the forecasts are predicting rain for much of northern Alberta next week, which should lower the fire risk.
Albertafirebans.ca has the full list of fire bans in Alberta.
