The Minister of Forestry and Parks, Todd Loewenrecalled at a press conference Thursday that despite the recent rains, the province is not out of the woods.
Conditions can change very quickly in Alberta, leading to increased wildfire danger and activity
did he declare.
According to the province, 30 fires are currently active in Alberta, including 20 which are postponed from the 2023 season. All these fires are either under control or contained
said the minister Loewen.
The minister recalls that the evolution of the danger of fires made it possible to lift and modify a number of restrictions and prohibitions
which had been put in place while the fires were not under control.
Restrictions south of Fort McMurray were reduced to “a fire advisory
while in the North a fire ban remains in force.
We recorded over 45mm of rain outside of Fort McMurray this weekend. But this does not mean that our work there is finished.
“Firefighters, aircraft and other equipment continue to be used by more than 200 firefighters on the ground, Fort McMurrayto strengthen containment lines and extinguish hot spots, says Alberta Wildfire spokesperson, Christy Tucker.
The province announces that since the beginning of the year, only 29,000 hectares of forests have been destroyed, compared to last year at the same time, when more than 520,000 hectares were burned.
The majority of fires are of human origin
Authorities continue to urge caution as humans cause the majority of wildfires this year.
Since the start of the year, 77% of wildfires have been confirmed to be human caused
underlines the minister.
He also notes that the majority of fires are the subject of an investigation which will also fall into the category of human-caused fires
.
During the last long weekend In May, 25 abandoned campfires were detected in the Calgary Forest region. The province says if wildfire danger had been higher, new catastrophic fires could have broken out over the long weekend.
