'Be fire aware': Alberta wildfire season officially underway
As the final snow disappears, the rising temperatures elevate the risk of wildfires, with officials asking Albertans to be cautious when enjoying the outdoors.
To date, there are 16 wildfires already burning, including seven new wildfires that have been ignited in provincial Forest Protection Areas. Two of those blazes are listed as under control by Alberta Wildfire.
At this time last year, there were 44 fires, explained Melissa Story, an Alberta Wildfire information officer.
"Nothing too serious happening right now," Story said. "But spring is high risk for us."
"With the weather conditions changing and the weather getting nicer, we will definitely see elevated fire dangers," she added.
"The wildfire danger across the province right now is relatively low, but we would encourage anyone who is out and about in Alberta's forested areas to take caution."
With little lightning, Story says all new burns so far this year were human-caused.
Alberta Wildfire Information Officer Melissa Story surveys a forest on Saturday, April 8, 2023 (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson).
"Historically, all of our major wildfires that we have had in this province have happened in the spring," she added.
Alberta Wildfire asks all campers or recreation area users to double-check check their fires are out and double soaking ashes to snuff any embers.
Off-highway vehicle drivers are also asked to regularly clean their mufflers and spark arresters in addition to stopping regularly to ensure they have not fallen off.
In total, there were 1,246 wildfires in forest protection regions, with around 130,000 hectares burned. Sixty-one per cent of those were human-caused. The five-year average for the province is 1,300 wildfires and 200,000 hectares scorched.
Three hundred firefighters specializing in wildland blazes are finishing their training for the season and being moved to regions across the province to be ready to respond.
"We had quite an elevated fire season in the fall of last year," Story said. "We just want to encourage Albertans and any visitors, if you are out in the forested areas, just be respectful."
"Be fire aware."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Feds 'not interested' in investing in LNG facilities: energy minister
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the federal government is 'not interested' in subsidizing future liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects, including the electrification of projects currently in the works.
Chants of 'shame on you' greet guests arriving for the annual White House correspondents' dinner
An election-year roast of U.S. President Joe Biden before journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House correspondents' dinner Saturday.
Aerial photos show wide devastation left by tornado in China's Guangzhou
Aerial photos posted by Chinese state media on Sunday showed the wide devastation of a part of the southern city of Guangzhou after a tornado swept through the day before, killing five people, injuring dozens others and damaging over a hundred buildings.
Global measles cases nearly doubled in one year, researchers say
The number of measles cases around the world nearly doubled from 2022 to 2023, researchers say, presenting a challenge to efforts to achieve and maintain elimination status in many countries.
Fair share: the right office solution can take finding the right partner
The rise of remote and hybrid work has made it harder to justify a full office, so more are leaning on co-working spaces that they share with many others for convenience and cost savings. The choice, however, comes at the expense of privacy and control.
A top Qatari official urges Israel and Hamas to do more to reach a ceasefire deal
A senior Qatari official has urged both Israel and Hamas to show "more commitment and more seriousness" in ceasefire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds on both sides to move toward a deal that would set Israeli hostages free and bring potential respite in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.
What Trudeau's podcast appearances say about the Liberals' next ballot box question
Trudeau recently appeared on four podcasts as he travels the country talking up the Liberals' latest budget, which he's pitching as a plan to inject more economic fairness into society for those under 40 — a cohort that has kept Trudeau in power since 2015 but is increasingly turning to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
Russian drones set a hotel ablaze in a Ukrainian Black Sea city
Russian drones early Sunday struck the Black Sea city of Mykolaiv, setting a hotel ablaze and damaging energy infrastructure, the local Ukrainian governor reported, while ammunition shortages continued to hobble Kyiv's troops in the more than two-year-old war.
A munitions explosion at a Cambodian army base kills 20 soldiers, but its cause is unclear
Security was tight around a military base in southwestern Cambodia on Sunday, a day after a huge explosion there killed 20 soldiers, wounded others and damaged nearby houses.