The wildfire season runs from March 1 to October 31 in Alberta and firefighters and equipment have been deployed across the province in preparation. 

Derrick Forsythe, Alberta Wildfire Provincial Information Officer says, "The start of fire season on March 1st, is set to give us time to get ready for later in the spring when conditions are going to be dry and when the snows have gone. It's more of a start date to give us more time to prepare the crews hired and trained and ready to deploy around the province for the spring and summer." 

Forsythe adds the other important factor about wildfire season is that burning permits are required as of March 1st. "Any burning that is going to be done out on the landscape, outside of a campfire, needs to have a permit. So, anyone who is looking to have burn piles they have stacked up on a farm or as part of logging operations needs to get a permit to burn those now before they get started." 

The fire permits are free and can be obtained through your local forest area office. Fire permits let firefighters know exactly where planned burning is being done. Permits also help prevent false calls, which ensures firefighters are available for real wildfire response. 

During the 2021 wildfire season, 1,308 wildfires burned a total of 52,955 hectares in the Forest Protection Area. Forsythe says while the number of wildfires was up, it was a little higher than the five-year average, the hectares burned was way lower last year than the five-year average. "So, what that says, we had a lot of starts, a lot of fires, but we were able to get to them quickly and catch them before they grew into big fires. Which is good news."

In 2021, more than 60 per cent of wildfires were human-caused. Forsythe says, "That was down from 88 per cent from 2020 so that again is good news. It shows that the messaging that we've been putting out to Albertans about being careful in the forest and taking care to make sure that their campfires are out and not leave them unattended and for OHV drivers to stop periodically and check the manifold and mufflers on their OHV suggests that messaging has taken root at some level, which is good." However, although down from 2020, 62 per cent of wildfires being human started in 2021 means that the message needs to be continually repeated. 

Spring is when the wildfire hazard is at the highest risk when the snow has melted and trees and grass can be extremely dry and flammable. Forsythe says, "The key determinant in the risk from wildfire in the springtime is less the snowmelt and more the rains we're going to see in April and May. If we get lots of wet weather in April and May we'll have a quiet spring fire season."

Up-to-date information on fire restrictions, fire bans, and off-highway vehicle (OHV) restrictions are available at albertafirebans.ca or by calling 1-866-FYI-FIRE (1-866-394-3473).

To report a wildfire, call 310-FIRE (310-3473) toll-free, from anywhere in Alberta.