Though there is still snow on the ground, wildfire season in Alberta kicked off on Wednesday.
People don’t often think about wildfires until they are affected by them. In Alberta, we’re less than a year removed from an incredibly devastating one in Fort McMurray. It was a disaster that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and caused millions in damages. The impact on our provincial economy was notable. Fire investigators determined the fire was “most likely” caused by humans. That fire continues to burn almost 10 months later, though it’s now listed as under control.
Though wildfires are more rare in our region, there were a few last year including one that turned into a ‘fire tornado’ near Big Lake, forcing a firefighter to jump into the lake to escape. That blaze was also started by humans, the result of a campfire that got out of control.
More than 60 per cent of the 1,338 wildfires in our province last year were caused by human activity. St. Albert Fire Chief Ray Richards said the percentage is about the same locally.
“It’s usually young adults around the ravines,” he said.
If more than half of fires are human-caused, that means there are a lot of wildfires that can be prevented. Yet every year province-wide there are people who ignore fire bans. There are those who leave campfires unattended and those who carelessly discard cigarette butts. Once they get started wildfires can be unpredictable, prone to changes in weather, and can have devastating consequences. We need to keep them from starting in the first place.
The province has increased fines for a number of violations related to wildfires, including abandoning campfires or burning during fire bans. This will hopefully deter more people from risky behaviour, but we also need people to have a change in attitude.
Many of us have grown up hearing the slogan from Smokey The Bear that “only you can prevent forest fires,” but there are still too many of us ignoring that message. One human-caused wildfire is too many, let alone the hundreds that occur every year.
Preventing fires is a shared responsibility that requires us all to take part. We can clean up yard debris and remove fire hazards from our yards. We can take heed of fire bans. We can keep campfires attended and under control and make sure they are properly extinguished. Smokers need to dispose of smoking materials properly. We can report fires when we see them and dial 911 immediately.
Though we don’t live in a heavily forested area like Fort McMurray, we are not immune to out of control fires, and many of us travel to wooded areas to camp in the summer where the risk is higher. We all need to be fire smart and follow the rules. None of us want to be the cause of another disaster.
