‘New reality’ sets in as Alberta suffers one of its largest wildfire seasons

EDMONTON The 2019 Alberta wildfire season is on track to consume the second-most hectares of land in the history of the province, officials warn. The wildfire season will come to an end at the end of the month and as of last week, a total of 883,412.11 hectares had burned across the province. Matt Bell, provincial information officer with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, said that number could change as burning wildfires slow down throughout the winter months.

“There are currently seven wildfires in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta. Four are under control and three have been turned over to the responsible parties,” said Bell. “Our five-year average is just above 245,000 hectares. So, we are above average.”

This year trails only the record-setting 1981 wildfire season, when 1,357,305.98 hectares burned.

“Some of the larger wildfires, the Chuckegg Creek wildfire and the Macmillan wildfire complex, those two specifically were very significant in bringing that number up,” said Bell of this season’s bigger fires.

The majority of the wildfires this year burned across north and north-central Alberta. The Chuckegg Creek fire forced the

evacuation of thousands in the High Level area and destroyed close to a dozen homes in the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement.

Mike Flannigan, a professor at the University of Alberta who researches wildfires, says this year could be an indicator of future seasons. Such large wildfire activity is a “new reality” for the province.

“We’re heading into uncharted territory, but as our climate changes, and in particular, as we warm up, we expect more fire activity,” said Flannigan. “The warmer we get, the longer the fire season and we’re seeing that in Alberta already.”

Data from Alberta Wildfire shows five of the 10 largest seasons in terms of area burned have occurred in the past 10 years.

As temperatures rise, Flannigan said, so does wildfire threat.

“I’m not talking about individual fires like the Chuckegg Creek Fire, where wind becomes critical. We’re talking about fires a month or a fire season over a larger area, like northern Alberta,” said Flannigan. “It sets the stage, you know, dries up the fuels, may generate more lightning, longer fire seasons, that sort of thing.”

The warmer we get, the longer the fire season and we’re seeing that in Alberta already.