Could it be that Spring is finally here? Warmer temperatures, rain and spring breezes are doing their best to melt the snow. We're beginning to see grass in the meadows and along the ditches. Before you know it, the grass will be dry and the wildfire danger will increase.
In the meantime, remember that you need a permit for any burning. Permits are free and available from your local Wildfire Center. In addition to making sure your burn site is safe, one of the reasons we require a permit for any burning is that the permits allow us to know where to expect smoke or fire on the landscape.
Our Wildfire Lookout Towers are operational now. This means that we have eyes on the sky, watching for smoke. If a lookout observer spots smoke, the first thing we do is cross check it with our permits to see if anyone is intentionally burning there. If we don't have a permit, we will immediately dispatch resources to the fire.
Do you use the website or the wildfire app? We are happy to announce that our Wildfire Status Map has been upgraded and includes more functions and customization options including fire location. Some of the most notable changes include a new legend, definition to 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 has been entered). Click on the “View full map – additional information” button to be taken to the full map functionality. www.wildfirestatus.alberta.ca
Thanks for doing your part to prevent wildfire.
For more information, please contact:
Leslie Lozinski
Wildfire Information Officer
780-623-9758