With wildfire season just around the corner (March 1st), firefighters are urging everyone who has conducted winter burning to go back and ensure the fires are out. With the dry conditions last fall and lack of moisture in the ground, there is potential for fires lit this winter to continue to burn under the snow and re-emerge as wildfires in the spring.

To prevent spring holdover wildfires, revisit your brush pile or windrow burning projects to ensure the fires are extinguished.

  • Spread out the remaining material.
  • Soak the area and ensure both heat and smoke are no longer being produced.
  • Check your burn site multiple times in the coming weeks to ensure it has not reignited.

WINTER BURNING - SAFE BURNING PRACTICES ARE ALWAYS IN SEASON

From November 1st to February 28th fire permits are not required for burning in the Forest Protection Area. Even though a fire permit is not required, you are still responsible for any fires you ignite outside of the wildfire season. 

Alberta Wildfire is urging everyone to use caution when burning this winter as holdover fires are likely to occur. With the lack of rain in the late summer and fall, the conditions in the ground are extremely dry. This means a fire will dig in and burn deep in the ground, under the snow all winter long. Under the right conditions, these fires can re-emerge in the spring as wildfires.

Take the time to properly prepare your burn site. Know the requirements needed to be successful during your burn and how to properly extinguish your site.

More details can be found at https://www.alberta.ca/safe-burning

Information provided by Alberta Wildfire

  • In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, ReachFM.ca encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the Reach FM app at https://www.reachfm.ca/app