Never leave your cooking or warming fire unattended and always ensure you fully extinguish it. Soak the ashes, stir them and soak them again until they're cool to the touch.
If you plan to harvest your own firewood, ensure you get your free personal use forest products permit online or at your local forestry office.
If you see smoke or flame in the forest and suspect it's a wildfire, call 310-FIRE.
This update is best viewed on a web browser or the AB Wildfire Status App | View previous Edson Forest Area Updates. Bold indicates new or important information.
Cooking and warming fires pose the same risk as a campfire. When planning your fire, ensure it's far enough away from dead dry vegetation, choose bare mineral soil and ensure it's sheltered from the wind.
EDSON FOREST AREA WILDFIRE UPDATE
The wildfire danger in the Edson Forest Area is now HIGH. This means that forest fuels are dry and fire risk is serious. Moderate to vigorous surface fire is expected, which may spread to treetops. Conditions may be challenging for fire suppression efforts.
Fire danger is a relative index depicting forest environment conditions, how a fire will behave and how much damage a fire could do. View the forecasted fire danger map.
Since January 1, 2024, there have been 105 wildfires in the Edson Forest Area burning a total of 290 ha.
These statistics are consistent with the average number of wildfires and hectares burnt for our forest area and reflect the proactive approaches to wildfire prevention and safe burning practices of residents and industry. Respecting fire bans and restrictions, following fire permit conditions and using care when having a campfire all contributed to reducing human-caused wildfires.
Learn more about wildfire classifications on our website and view active wildfires, their locations and stats on the interactive map on our Wildfire Status page.
IF YOU PLAN TO HARVEST IT - GET YOUR PERMIT
Personal Use Forest Products Permits are for small-scale personal use only (no resale) for Christmas trees, firewood or transplants. These free permits are available online or in person at your nearest forestry office. PUFPPs authorize Albertans to cut and removed timber from designated Crown land only. The area-specific PUFPP document must be with you at all times while cutting or transporting trees from Crown land. In one 30-day period, a person can hold up to 4 permits – up to one permit each for: firewood. Christmas trees, roundwood and transplants.
IF YOU PLAN TO BURN IT - GET YOUR PERMIT
All burning within the Forest Protection Area of Alberta requires a burn permit, with the exception of campfires during fire season, which ends on October 31. You can get your free fire permit by applying online or contact your local forest area office at (780) 723-8527 or you can request your permit using the online fire permit portal.
FIRESMART YOUR HOME AND PROPERTY
FireSmart is a national program that helps Canadians increase their resilience to wildfire. Whether you are a homeowner, resident, business, local government, or Indigenous community, you can take small steps with lasting impacts.
Now that fall is quickly approaching, we ask farm and acreage owners to start thinking about FireSmart options for their property. Here are some tips to get you started:
- Get a fire permit and always follow the conditions when burning grass and stubble.
- Avoid burning in the heat of the day – when possible, burn in the evening after 6 p.m.
- Check your local weather forecast – never burn with winds greater than 12 km/hr (8 mph).
- Blade or plow a minimum of five metres around your burn, down to mineral soil. This makes a guard to help prevent the fire from spreading.
- Break larger fields down into smaller sections, with fireguards built around each section. This results in more manageable sized fires. Only set fires that can be controlled by available manpower and equipment.
- Ensure that you have adequate supervision, people, equipment and water nearby.
- Always burn from the outside perimeter and against the wind.
- Never leave a burn unattended. After the burn is complete, continue to patrol until the fire is completely extinguished.
- Verify extinguishment by returning to the burn site to confirm nothing has reignited.
It's never too late to participate. Learn how you can FireSmart your home and property! Visit FireSmart Alberta. For farm or acreages, you can download the Farm and Acreage FireSmart magazine.
WILDFIRE PREVENTION TIPS, TOOLS & INFORMATION
Albertans are always asked to use caution when working or recreating in the outdoors:
- Before you burn it, get your fire permit. Fire permits in Alberta.
- Clear debris from hot spots on your off-highway vehicle.
- Ensure your campfire is out - soak it, stir it, soak it again.
- Before you head out this weekend, check out the albertafirebans.ca website or download the app to stay informed.
- If you are working within the Forest Protection of Alberta, you must carry sufficient firefighting equipment as per the Forest Prairie and Protection Act.
- For road closure information, please visit 511.alberta.ca
- For information regarding smoke in the area, you can visit firesmoke.ca
- NASA FIRMS Fire Information website is a great resource to give an idea of the location of wildfires in the area, but note that the data is based on interpolation and often can make the wildfire look larger then it actually is.
- Subscribe to the Edson Forest Area wildfire update to receive an email when new information is posted.
- Download the Alberta Wildfire App for Apple and Android device.
- Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
For more information, please contact:
