Alberta wildfire activity less fierce than expected so far this May long weekend: officials

Alberta wildfire activity has been less fierce than expected so far this weekend, officials say, with only five new wildfires within 48 hours.

Alberta Wildfire warned the May long weekend typically sees a spike in human-caused wildfires – 97 wildfires were started this time last year under far more stable circumstances.

But only five new wildfires ignited between Friday morning and Sunday morning, Christie Tucker of Alberta Wildfire said in Sunday afternoon’s update.

“We haven’t seen the kind of wildfire activity that we would have expected under the forecasted conditions this weekend,” Tucker said.

“That’s in part a testament to the actions taken by Albertans this weekend to respect the fire bans and restrictions in place and to change their plans to help us prevent any new starts.”

The total number of hectares burned in Alberta this year did jump from 842,000 hectares as of Saturday to 941,000 hectares.

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Tucker says that doesn’t mean highly active wildfires grew significantly. She says it could be there were several small patches of growth through the province, or simply that better size estimates were provided due to clearer conditions.

But the wildfire situation in Alberta remains “highly unpredictable,” the province warned, with 84 wildfires still active, including 23 out of control. There are 17 evacuation orders still in effect, 22 states of local emergency and 10,678 Albertans evacuated from their homes.

Parts of Alberta did see showers and thunderstorms Sunday, with rain and cooler temperatures expected Monday and into next week. Tucker did warn the northwest corner of the province could remain dry and warm.

Smoke remains an issue for several communities, affecting air quality, but Tucker continued to stress smoke had beneficial properties too in that it lessens fire behaviour.

Some firefighters returning home

The province announced an additional 100 Canadian armed forces were expected to arrive in the province Monday – heading to the Slave Lake area – with 80 more firefighters from the U.S. slated to land on Wednesday.

Tucker acknowledged some firefighters from other Canadian provinces would be returning home after completing their “basic two-week rotation.”

“They do two weeks in general when they come here to assist, just as we do when we go to help them,” said Tucker. “And so time has come that we need new resources in to replace those that have been helping us for the last two weeks and are now heading home.

“We know two weeks in advance when they are when they’re expected to go home. So that’s something that we don’t plan for last minute. We planned for them two weeks in advance when we have new resources coming in. We know we have the ability to ask for more when we need it. So certainly none of this is coming as a surprise.”