LAKELAND – With the arrival of March come the beginning of the 2025 wildfire season in Alberta.
In the Lakeland, the Bonnyville, Lac La Biche and St. Paul fire departments continue to take proactive measures and offer tips to help residents protect their homes and themselves.
“With the recent warm weather, it’s probably time for residents to start looking at incorporating some FireSmart principles on their properties,” said Henry Thomson, deputy fire chief with the St. Paul Fire Department.
This involves working to remove materials that act as potential fuel from yards and around buildings. He also recommends storing wood piles away from buildings, removing coniferous trees to at least 10 metres away from a house, raking up dead leaves and debris, keeping a mowed lawn, and thinning and trimming the bottom branches on trees that are 10 to 30 metres from the house.
Thomson also encourages cleaning debris from roof and gutters, and patching any holes in siding, and ensuring there are 3 mm wire mesh screens on eave and vent openings.
Ensuring buildings are maintained, and utilizing fire resistant materials on houses also limit risks of fire, added Thomson.
“Being FireSmart reminds me of the old adage that ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’,” he said.
“We are also encouraging everyone who did any controlled burns over the winter to go out and take a good look at the area they burnt,” said Thomson. Cold weather and snow make it appear that fire from controlled burns is extinguished, but that is sometimes not the case.
A non-extinguished fire becomes a holdover fire, which often causes wildfires.
“It may just be smouldering there right now, but as soon as the snow melts and the spring breezes pick up, these smouldering fires can turn into roaring grassland or wildland fires,” said Thomson.
FireSmart principles are crucial to mitigating wildfires, agreed John Kokotilo, manager of Protective Services and Regional Fire Chief at Lac La Biche County Fire Services.
In addition to actively promoting FireSmart to Lac La Biche residents, fire services also conduct free home assessments and free wood chipping services as part of the FireSmart program.
Kokotilo said Lac La Biche has been successful with its FireSmart program and received a $75,000 federal grant to provide the free home assessments and wood chipping services.
“We still have a little bit of money left, so this is still available.”
Homeowners may receive up to $3,750 to use for projects that reduce wildfire risk on their properties.
“So, if you want to change your windows out from single pane to triple pane, for example, there’s up to $3,750 grant money for you.”
Residents are also asked to remain informed their municipalities' fire bans and restrictions.
Alicia Krawchuk, Regional Chief of Emergency Services at the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA), said in a statement that in the M.D. of Bonnyville, people can contact their local Fire Guardian for burn permits.
"Burn permits are required for any type of burning in the M.D. of Bonnyville, excluding campfires. Our local Fire Guardians are knowledgeable and available to help landowners burn approved materials safely," she said.
Before initiating fire burns, M.D. residents are asked to contact the dispatch centre at: 780-826-7446, before initiating their burns to prevent emergency calls and responses to controlled burns.
Wildfire preparedness
Asked about wildfire preparedness, Krawchuk said the BRFA is closely monitoring weather and moisture levels to "anticipate conditions that may favour the spread of fire."
"Last year, GlobalMedic generously donated a fire skid to the BRFA. This fire skid, a small water tank and pump that fits in a pickup truck is used in our first response trucks to initiate early fire attacks and provide ease of access and portability in difficult terrain," says Krawchuk.
In Lac La Biche, Kokotilo said one of three Structure Protection Units (SPU) in Alberta is based at Lac La Biche. The province maintains a fleet of three specialized trailers that can protect around 150 structures during a wildfire.
“We constantly go do assessments in different areas. We do a lot of training so that if there is a wildfire coming through, we're able to protect the homes before they get burned,” he said.
Speaking more about preparation for the wildfire season, which runs until March to October, Kokotilo acknowledged, “You're really not fully prepared ever.”
“But we are very proactive, from our department, our community, our council, and our administration,” he said, adding, fire services in Lac La Biche take wildfire seriously.
Regional cooperation among fire department and fire services is also crucial, according to Kokotilo.
Mutual aid agreements between First Nations and Métis settlements, as well as Lakeland and neighbouring municipalities like Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and Fort McMurray, allows for “a big fire team” in the region, he explained.
Training and refreshing knowledge
In St. Paul, the maintenance department at the County of St. Paul shop has been busy ensuring wildland firefighting apparatus are in good shape for the upcoming fire season, while firefighters across the St. Paul region have been busy training and refreshing wildland firefighting knowledge and skills, said Thomson.
Two new wildland trucks are also being built at the County Shop to be stationed in Ashmont and Elk Point, Thomson added.
“We are prepared for the season, but we definitely will require the help of everyone else to make sure they are doing their part to prevent wildfires and to adhere to any fire restrictions or fire bans that might be put into place.”
