It's spring in Alberta! That means nice days mixed with snow and rain. The result is LOW wildfire danger due to the most part to the snow cover.
Fire season started on March 1 and our patrolmen have been hard at work getting fire permits out to those of you wishing to do early season burning. Fire permits are free, and are required for any burning other than a permit.
Now is a great time to check your winter burns. As the snow melts, check your burn sites to make sure your fires are truly extinguished and that they're not fooling you and are really burning in the duff. Fires that dig in over winter can be hard to extinguish, sometimes requiring heavy equipment to reach far enough down to expose and douse the smoldering wood.
Remember the wildfire.alberta app? You may not have referred to it over the winter, but we've been working on improving the information. The Wildfire Status Map has been upgraded and includes more functions and customization options. There's a new legend, definition of wildfire status terms, and more robust layers for customization. The new map also includes more detailed wildfire information for each fire including fire number, approximate size, and general cause if it's known. Click on the "View full map - additional information" button to be taken to the full map functionality. www.wildfirestatus.alberta.ca
Weekly updates won't begin until the snow melts and our wildfire danger increases.
In the meantime, thanks for doing your part to prevent wildfire.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Wildfire Information Officer
780-623-9758