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.
The area is experiencing above average temperatures and dry conditions. There may be strong northwest winds this evening and into the morning, gusting up to 70 km/h. Ensure you use extra care when burning and adhere to the conditions of your burn permit.
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.
Do not leave your campfire unattended. When you leave your site, you must ensure it's fully extinguished. That means that the ashes are cool to the touch. The sparks from this abandoned campfire could have flown into nearby dry vegetation and caused a wildfire. (September 8, 2024)
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. The PUFPP entitles individuals to:
- Cut up to 3 Christmas trees under 2.5 m (approximately 8 ft) in height and no more than 15 cm in diameter at the stump.
- Transplant up to 20 trees less than 2.5 m in height.
- Cut up to 5 cubic metres (5 m3) of firewood. The number of trees cut depends on tree species and size and is approximately:
- 5 to 7 large coniferous trees (generally trees with needles), or
- 4 to 6 deciduous trees (generally trees with leaves), or
- 5 m3 is approximately 1.5 cords (approximately 3 level 1/2 ton pickup truck boxes). - Cut up to 5 m3 of roundwood timber (fence posts or poles).
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
- 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.
EDSON FOREST AREA WILDFIRE UPDATE
The wildfire danger in the Edson Forest Area remains VERY HIGH. This means high-intensity fire is expected and likely to spread to treetops. Fire is expected to start easily and to challenge 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 104 wildfires in the Edson Forest Area burning a total of 289 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.
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:
Feed storage areas | Dry bales are a magnet for sparks and embers and are usually one of the first things to ignite as a wildfire approaches. No matter how you store bales, once they ignite, the fire spreads quickly and is difficult to control or extinguish. Fires can start in stored hay from radiant heat or spontaneous combustion. Spontaneous combustion usually occurs within six weeks of baling, but can occur in old hay and straw as well. Fire can occur in loose or baled hay and straw and is most often caused by excessive moisture.
One of the best ways to prevent this is to ensure that the hay is cured to the proper moisture content before baling. To minimize the spread of fire from straw and hay bales to the house or outbuildings, store bales a good distance away from any structures. The area between the bales and buildings should be maintained by reducing the amount of vegetation, preferably down to mineral soil or gravel. If you have grass in this area, it’s critical that it be kept mowed as short as possible. It is a good idea to store your winter supply of bales in a couple of different locations to minimize loss in the event of a fire. Use the bales closest to the house and outbuildings during the feeding season. That way when spring comes, you have a larger buffer between the house, outbuildings and the bales.
It’s important to clean up all the old hay and straw that accumulates in storage areas from broken bales and bale bottoms freezing down over the winter. Haul it out on the pasture for the livestock to pick through, spread it over the field like manure, or let your livestock graze on it.
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:
