Much of Alberta under fire bans amid soaring temperatures, gusting winds
Global News
As the number and intensity of wildfires in Alberta increases, so do concerns about fires in areas of the province that have so far largely been spared from the flames.
Due to increasing wildfire danger and many active wildfires across the province, Alberta’s government has implemented a fire ban across much of the forest protection area.
The forest protection area (FPA) runs along the foothills and Rocky Mountains, and all of northern Alberta’s boreal forest. Alberta Wildfire takes the lead when a fire breaks out in those areas.
The FPA encompasses rural areas around the communities of Edson and Hinton, Grande Prairie, High Level, Fort McMurray, Peace River, Lac La Biche, Slave Lake and Whitecourt, Rocky Mountain House and Calgary.
The ban is in effect for an area of the province south of Fort Mac and Peace River, and north of the Edmonton region.
Alberta Wildfire said on Wednesday, the area at greatest risk right now isn’t the usual northern forest but instead, the middle of the province.
“The highest risk, oddly enough, is in what we call the ‘agricultural area’ which is kind of that central, southern, eastern portion of the province,” said wildfire information officer Derek Forsythe.
For that reason, the northernmost parts of the province are under fire restrictions and advisories instead of a ban.
Individual cities, towns, villages and summer villages, as well as federal lands like national parks, are exempt from the province’s ban, but have the authority to issue their own bans and may have complementary bans already in place.
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