LAKELAND - The summer season of 2024 has been a busy wildfire season across Alberta. And upcoming hot temperatures could heat up fire activity again, say local officials.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Lac La Biche County’s Regional Fire Chief told Lakeland This Week on Thursday, as the last two weeks of summer began – along with what is expected to be a weekend of record-level temperatures that are forecast to continue into the new week across the Lakeland region and much of Alberta.
“Things are looking good right now,” John Kokotilo said, but with daytime high temperatures expected to be near the 30-degree mark for a few days, things can change quickly.
It’s been a summer of dramatic and changing weather and fire hazards, said the local fire boss. Consistently dry conditions prompted Lac La Biche County officials to implement fire restrictions and bans at different points during the summer. Provincial fire officials implemented similar bans when fire hazard index levels reached High and Extreme levels.
Leading into the days of high temperatures, Kokotilo says the region and the municipality are situated well, with relatively low hazard levels thanks to night-time cooling as the hours of daylight decrease. But as grass areas begin to dry and leaves fall from trees, the hazard often increases... especially with unseasonably hot daytime temperatures at a time when things are normally cooling down.
Compounding the ongoing concern, he said, is the low levels of moisture in the ground due to a previous winter with less than normal snowfall and a very warm spring and summer.
While the regional fire chief continues to watch the weather as summer turns to autumn, he’s also looking further along to the winter months. He’s hoping for significant snowfall to return moisture to the land that was tinder dry for most of the 2024 fire season.
“If we don’t get moisture during the winter… a considerable amount of snow and stuff to bring up the water table, it may be an iffy situation again next year,” he said, adding that several days of consistent rain in the meantime is also needed.
While wildfires forced the evacuation of many communities across western Canada this year, and recent flames destroyed homes, businesses and resources in the Jasper area, the Lakeland area was more fortunate. Although there were fires within the Lac La Biche Forest Area that stretches from Athabasca to Cold Lake, Kokotilo said there were no significant fire issues within the region.
“We’ve been very lucky with Lac La Biche... but, you know, hopefully it stays the same,” he said.
Temperatures across the region for the next several days are expected to be at least 10 degrees than average. Going into the weekend, Environment Canada was reporting little to no precipitation for the region until at least Wednesday night.