Supplied Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

By Abby Zieverink

Wildfire Season over

Despite hot summer, Alberta posts below average wildfire season

Nov 2, 2021 | 1:24 PM

October 31 officially marked the end of the wildfire season in Grande Prairie and across the rest of Alberta.

Despite the above-average temperatures throughout the province this summer, officials say Alberta’s 2021 wildfire season saw less surface area burned than the five-year average.

The five-year provincial wildfire average, which is based on statistics between 2016 and 2020, sits at 1,123 wildfires, burning 317,326 hectares.

Alberta Wildfire reported a total of 1,307 wildfires during the 2021 season, burning 52,955 hectares.

As of November 2, the Grande Prairie Forest area saw 103 wildfires burn 133 hectares.

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Sixty-two per cent of all wildfires reported across Alberta are believed to have been caused by human activity, 33 per cent by lightning, while five per cent are still under investigation.

Over the 2021 wildfire season, authorities say because of the absence of large wildfires in Alberta, 492 firefighters, aircraft, and equipment were sent from Alberta to other jurisdictions. This includes 111 firefighters and 64 support staff to British Columbia, and 250 firefighters and 12 support staff to Ontario.

The province also supported Manitoba, Quebec, the Northwest Territories, Alaska, Washington, and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Although fire permits are not required in the forest protection area out of the wildfire season, officials are still urging Albertans to use caution when burning in the province’s forest areas, as dry conditions can continue through the fall and winter months.

Precautionary measures include monitoring weather conditions and checking fall and winter burn sites in the spring to ensure they are completely out.