Extra staff helping as wildfire activity rises: Alberta Wildfire

Hot, dry weather ramped up wildfire danger in Alberta again Thursday, but officials say extra staff are helping.

So far this year, Alberta has recorded more wildfires than last year's total. However, the total number of hectares burned remains less than a third of 2023's record-setting 2.1 million hectares.

• Complete coverage of the 2024 Alberta wildfire season

Melissa Story of Alberta Wildfire said the 100 new firefighters this season are having a positive impact.

"We are able to get to those fires quicker," Story said. "We are able to provide more support on some of the larger wildfires that we are seeing burning on the landscape."

Wildfire danger remained high or extreme in most of Alberta, with all provincial lands under a fire ban.

More than 1,800 people, 156 helicopters and 21 aircraft were working throughout Alberta. And, with conditions expected to worsen, additional resources have been called in from Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario and Alaska.

"Even when things are hot and dry, if you can get to the fire when it's still small, you can put it out," said Mike Flannigan, a wildland fire expert at Thompson Rivers University.

"But you need to have enough troops, so by having extra crews or calling in extra crews from around the country or around the world to help with those new fire starts, that's critical."

The Alberta government says more than 60 per cent of wildfires last year were human-caused, but more than half the fires burning on Thursday were caused by lighting, Story said.

"The lightning strikes can smolder on the ground for days, weeks," she said. "Once we see those ideal conditions – when a little bit of wind comes and we get that heat – it can ignite the ground and it can ignite the grass underneath it."

On Thursday, Garden River remained under an evacuation order, and Janvier and Janvier First Nation were under an evacuation alert.

Resources for evacuees can be found on the Government of Alberta website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson