Already wildfire season

Bella Coco, Staff Writer | 

On Feb. 21, the Government of Alberta declared an early start to wildfire season, 10 days earlier than its typical start on March 1. The early start was prompted by an uncharacteristically dry season and warm weather. 

“Alberta is experiencing warmer than normal temperatures and below average precipitation in many areas of the province, leading to heightened wildfire risk. To better direct resources to new and existing wildfires, Alberta has declared an early start to the 2024 wildfire season,” the province said in a statement.

With the El Niño season in full swing and persistent drought conditions throughout Alberta, warmer temperatures are predicted to come sooner than expected. 

The City of Calgary recently released a statement on the drought conditions throughout the city.

“Recent drought monitoring data compiled by the city shows little drought relief from recent heavy snowfall in the Rocky Mountains. Low river flows and dry conditions are still persisting regionally throughout southern Alberta, emphasising the need for everyone to do their part to conserve water,” the City of Calgary explained. 

The city said that while runoff from mountains into the Elbow and Bow rivers have increased, it still is well below average. 

“If we don’t get the snow and rain we need, outdoor water restrictions will come into effect as early as this spring to ensure there’s enough water to meet Calgary’s essential needs including water for drinking and fighting fires, as well as to support our neighbours and river health,” Nicole Newton, manager of natural environment and adaptation, said.  

Back in January, president of the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA), Chief Randy Schroeder, sent an open letter to the province of Alberta. The letter contained concern over a lack of wildfire preparation provided by the province. 

“With the current dry winter Alberta is experiencing, the AFCA expresses significant concern regarding the potential for a wildfire season mirroring last year’s devastating events. Alberta has faced an unprecedented wildfire season in 2023, with over 2.5 million hectares of land burned. These wildfires are occurring with greater frequency, intensity, and duration across more expansive areas than in the past. In light of these concerns and environmental projection models the AFCA is urgently calling for disclosure of the provinces’ wildfire preparedness strategy,” Schroeder said on behalf of the AFCA. 

According to the Government of Alberta’s wildfire statistics, there were 1,008 wildfires and 2,221,900 hectares burned in 2023. 61 per cent of the fires were human-caused and a fire ban or restriction was in effect for 159 days (out of 245). 

The letter continued to ask for additional resources, an increase in training capacity, more equipment and a dedicated provincial strategy on combating the fires. 

“The AFCA emphasized the urgency of addressing these concerns before the onset of the wildfire season. It is imperative to have a clear, well-resourced, and collaborative strategy that involves all levels of government to effectively manage and mitigate the risks of wildfires in Alberta,” the letter said. “We remain committed to working alongside provincial authorities, municipalities, and federal agencies to safeguard our communities. We eagerly await a detailed response and action plan that addresses these critical concerns.”

Despite the early start to the season, Todd Loewen, Alberta Minister of Parks and Forestry, has been working on requested funding and resources to be fully prepared for the 2024 wildfire season.  

“This year we plan to start earlier to make sure our crews are ready to go on April 15th. So that’s a couple things off the start. We’re using more technology. Last year, we had the only night vision helicopter in Canada working on wildfires. And this year we’re planning to add two more of them. We’re planning to add more air tankers and then also hire more boots on the ground when it comes to firefighting itself,” Loewen explained. 

Albertans can also expect more proactive campfire bans from the government. 

“We’ll try to give people a little more time to plan around fire bans and make sure that we’re as reactive as we can when it comes to protecting the forested area. And we’re also making sure we don’t have as many fires started by humans. Last year we had 61 per cent of the fires in the province were human-caused,” Loewen said. 

“And so we just want to reduce that number as much as we can. Those human-caused fires weren’t necessarily the largest fires that we had to fight, but they do take personnel away from fighting the fires that we have no control over, which are the ones started by lightning.”

The one key takeaway Loewen laid out was the urgency for recognition during wildfire season.  

“I think everybody just needs to be aware of the dangers when we look at the landscape and as we go into spring. If we don’t have a bunch more snow before spring and we don’t have some of those early spring rains, then it could be a really rough season,” Loewen said. 

“Of course, if we do get that snow and those rains, then we could be just into an average season. But I want to make sure that people are remaining as safe as they can. Our number one concern is safety for people, safety for people’s homes and for the businesses and the communities.”