Smoke returns to Alberta cities as wildfires continue to burn in northern Alberta and B.C.

If you looked outside your window this morning, you might have asked yourself ‘where is this wildfire smoke coming from’? Turns out it’s a mix of wildfires from northern Alberta and B.C.

Alberta had 115 active fires burning Thursday afternoon. Each ‘wildfire of note’ — determined to be of significant public interest and may pose a threat to public safety, communities, or critical infrastructure — such as the one near Drayton Valley or Fort Chipewyan is still active, according to Alberta Wildfire. That’s because fires can burn deep underground for an extended period of time.

“At this point, we had a wind shift yesterday, so now it sort of blowing the smoke that was up north down to Edmonton and the Calgary regions,” said Melissa Story, Provincial Information Officer with Alberta Wildfire.

Story says when we see extended periods of hot, dry conditions here in the province, there is an increased risk of fires getting bigger.

“When we have fires that burn on peat, they can burn very deep into the ground and for long durations of time. For us to classify a fire as completely extinguished, it means that we’ve gotten rid of all of the hot spots on it, and we’ve done infrared scanning so we can ensure that fire is completely extinguished,” she explained.

“It’s not uncommon for large wildfires fires to burn underground over the winter months and reignite in the springtime, so we are keeping an eye on things, we are monitoring them very closely, and will continue to monitor them to ensure they are completely extinguished.”

RELATED:

• Smoke is back, Calgary under special air quality statement: ECCC
• Wildfire in North Vancouver on Mount Seymour

Take Fort McMurray for example, when a fire burns as long and as intensely as ‘the beast’ in 2016, it can smolder underground throughout the winter and be considered active for 15 months.

“For us to classify a fire as completely extinguished, it means that we’ve gotten rid of all of the hot spots on it, and we’ve done infrared scanning so we can ensure that fire is completely extinguished,” said Story.

When wildfires burrow underground, there’s not much crews can do to manage them.

“Our sustained action crews are more likely to go in after the fire is less active just to turn the dirt and make sure there is no more fire burning underneath.”

And while things have calmed down a bit in Alberta, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Wildfire season in the province lasts until the end of October.

“Only time will tell. The conditions, if we see a lot of rain until the end of the wildfire season and a lot of snow this year, spring is a very big telling sign for us depending on how the snow melts, that allows us to get back and reassess these wildfires. “At this point, we can’t say if they will burn into next year or not, but when we do have wildfires of significant size as we do, it isn’t uncommon to happen.”