By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette
As wildfire season ramps up in Wild Rose Country, the government agency overseeing Alberta’s response to the blazes says there’s been good precipitation.
“We’ve seen pretty good snowfall across northern Alberta, especially,” said Alberta Wildfire information officer Derrick Forsythe.
“That’s good news for us.”
With a good snowpack across the province, Forsythe notes that the trickle-down effect will benefit firefighting efforts.
“That snow will turn to moisture and depending on how it runs off the spring, it can be really helpful in slowing the start of wildfire season for us,” said Forsythe.
Alberta has seen 117 wildfires to date, with just over 390 hectares burned.
It comes as several wildfire alerts were activated over the last week, including some in Leduc County, as well as Sandy Beach in Sturgeon County.
Between March and the end of September last year, Alberta had 1,245 wildfires that burned more than 676,000 hectares, the fifth-largest area in Canada.
Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the hardest hit by wildfires, with more than two million hectares burned last year.
In addition to good precipitation now, there will need to be some more throughout the summer, when temperatures are at their hottest.
“If we get stretches of long, hot, 30-plus degree days with no rainfall for long periods. Then, yeah, lightning strikes or human activity, it can spark off a fire and it will grow really quickly,” said Forsythe,
The other thing that will help is people being careful when they’re out in the backcountry.
“If you’re heading out into a campsite or to a random camp or just taking a ride on your OHV, you should be extra careful and vigilant,” said Forsythe. “When you leave that campfire, just make sure you’ve soaked it and stirred it, and make sure that the coals are kind of cool to the touch before you walk away.
