LAC LA BICHE - Thanks to steady rainfall over the last two weeks, all fire advisories for the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area have been removed.
The advisories and restrictions were put in place by provincial officials as local fire hazards rose to extreme levels in recent weeks. The restrictions forced all outdoor burning – from fire pits to burning barrels – to be banned. Rainfall over the last several days reduced the fire hazards to moderate and most recently to low levels across all of the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area, allowing backyard fires and campfires.
John Kokotilo said consistent rain that has fallen in the area in recent weeks-along with high humidity-meant that the restriction could be lifted. Kokotilo says the municipality follows along with the provincial fire restrictions.
He added that while Alberta Forestry and Parks rescinded the fire restriction for the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area – which stretches from Conklin to Cold Lake and west to Wandering River – limitations remain in effect for many northern parts of the province. With those cautions still in effect – and with the most recent Fort McMurray wildfire evacuation just a week prior – Kokotilo wasn’t expecting the province to remove the local restrictions so quickly.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all, actually… I’m very happy,” Kokotilo told Lakeland This Week. “My peers too, they weren’t expecting it but it’s a good thing.”
After the Alberta government declared an early start to fire season in the province on Feb. 22, the Lac La Biche Forest Protection Area was put under a fire advisory. Over the past few months, extremely dry conditions have led to tightened restrictions and bans on agricultural burning and open fires. This included not issuing new fire permits for non-essential fuel burning such as machine-piled brush fires and windrows.
According to Lac La Biche County officials, now that the restriction has been rescinded, fire permits will once again be issued on a case-by-case basis, safe campfires for cooking and warmth are permitted, along with Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use, in line with all laws and regulations.
According to Kokotilo, fire officials in Lac La Biche County keep a close eye on the hazard index and fire restriction level put in place by Forestry and Parks and usually follow the lead of the provincial government agency when deciding what to do locally. This, he explained, saves a lot of confusion for the public.
However, at times when Lac La Biche County Fire Services resources are limited-or stretched-Kokotilo said he may increase that level or restriction from the local side.
“We don’t have the resources if we ever were to have a large fire,” he said, adding in the years he has been with the local fire department, this has only happened once or twice.
As for fires in the Lac La Biche region over the past few months, Kokotilo says while the situation has been good since the beginning of May, April was a very different story.
“April was crazy,” he said, adding that Lac La Biche County Fire Services had over 100 apparatus responses during that month.
While the recent rainfall has put a damper on fire activity in the region, Kokotilo knows better than to think the danger is over.
“We may be out of the woods, but I’m not going to say for sure yet,” he said.
According to information from the Government of Alberta, since Jan. 1, 2024, there have been 80 wildfires burning a total of 53 hectares in the Lac La Biche Forest Area. At present, there are no active wildfires in the Lac La Biche Forest Area. Going into the weekend, across the province there were 31 active fires burning in Alberta. The wildfire burning southwest of Fort McMurray that caused the recent evacuation, is one of those active fires and is currently classified as ‘being held’ after burning more than 19,450 hectares. The most active area on the Alberta Wildfire map going into the weekend was in north-western Alberta around the Fairview and Spirit River areas where half a dozen wildfires have scorched up more than 100,000 hectares of land. As the cooler weather and rain shower forecasts continued, each of those fires were all categorized as being ‘under control’ leading into the weekend.
Since the beginning of the 2024 fire season, there have been 346 wildfires reported in Alberta.
