ATHABASCA – Hot weather, dry conditions, and the ever-growing risk of wildfires put a stop to many Athabascans long weekend plans after local municipalities issued fire bans before the long weekend.
Athabasca was the first municipality to issue the ban, with the town putting a stop to outdoor fires, including campfires, cooking fires, and briquette barbecues, July 25. Boyle followed suit July 31, and Athabasca County declared its own fire ban later that same day.
“The lack of precipitation over the last month —statistically we’ve had less than an inch of rain in the entire month of July — that lack of moisture has resulted in not only impacts to agriculture, but also to the fire indices,” said Athabasca County fire chief Travis Shalapay.
Due to the lack of moisture, conditions that fire fighters normally wouldn’t see until fall are taking place mid-summer. From browning grass to dehydrated poplar trees, Shalapay said the risk was greater than normal for this time of year.
Under a fire ban, which is the next step up from a fire restriction, existing fire permits are suspended, new permits can’t be issued, and outdoor fire are off-limits. Discharging fireworks or shooting explosive targets is also prohibited.
Off-highway vehicles (OHVs) are prohibited depending on which municipality the rider is in. Athabasca County and many of the summer villages haven’t yet prohibited their use, but Boyle has. OHVs are prohibited in the town of Athabasca regardless of the weather.
“At the time of the declaration of "fire ban" the indices did not fully support the inclusion of an OHV Ban, yet. Should conditions continue to deteriorate additional restrictions, including but not limited to a potential OHV Bans, may be enacted,” said Shalapay, who added that the leafy trees and tall grasses help mitigate some of the potential risks in areas where OHVs are often used.
“We don’t have a ban, but that doesn’t mean they’re 100 per cent safe. People need to check their OHVs, make sure they’re clean, carry a fire extinguisher and have the tools to put out a ground fire if you create or come across one.”
Provincial jurisdictions
In the Lac La Biche Forest area the risk of a wildfire has been labelled extreme, although the existing fire restriction hadn’t been upgraded to a fire ban at the time of writing.
“Continued high temperatures, dry conditions, and a lack of moisture are creating conditions where wildfires can start and spread easily. If a wildfire does start, it may spread quickly and be more challenging to control,” reads a notice on the provincial governments website.
The Pelican Wildfire Complex, which is burning north of Wandering River, isn’t currently threatening the community, although sprinklers have been installed on buildings as a precaution.
LWF150 is 663 hectares in size, and is 45 kilometres northwest of Wandering River, and LWF139 is 225 hectares in size and is on the west side of the Athabasca River, 25 kilometres west of Hwy 63 and north of LWF150. Both wildfires are currently classified as out of control.
As of Aug. 1, 178 wildfires have been recorded in the Lac La Biche Forest Area.
For up to date information on fire bans, visit www.albertafirebans.ca or check out the two alert apps used by local municipalities. Athabasca County’s notifications can be found on the Voyent Alert app, while the town and village are found on Alertable. Both are available on both Android and Apple operating systems.
Shalapay stressed that the provincial fire ban website was the best bet when it comes to fire bans in Athabasca County. Between the three municipalities, eight summer villages, provincial campgrounds and the Lac La Biche Forest Area, 13 different groups are calling the shots for their respective areas when it comes to fire restrictions and the rules might change from one side of the road to the next.
“That’s the sole source of truth as far as I’m concerned in terms of finding new information regarding restrictions and bans no matter where people are,” said Shalapay.
The various fire bans will last until conditions improve and the risks are mitigated, but Shalapay said there isn’t a magic amount of precipitation to make that happen.
“We need to see sustained consistent showers over multiple days, and we have to see not so much the weather change, but the fuels come back,” he said.
“We need to see the grasses start getting green again, the poplars not being so waxy and dry. Grass can be impacted by as little as two millimetres of rain, but we’re in such a deficit within 48 hours of that we’re back to square one.”
