The town, county and province-wide fire bans have been lifted and replaced with fire advisories, and county firefighters have been able to catch up on some much-need sleep.
Westlock County fire chief John Biro warned, however, that residents should continue to be vigilant and keep an eye out for any fires, especially as we get further into thunderstorm season.
“If the weather continues with the heat, there could be a chance of another fire ban in the future,” he said.
County firefighters were kept busy with 23 calls between May 15 — the day before Slave Lake was evacuated — and May 27.
One of those calls actually involved going up to Slave Lake and fighting fires in the town.
That number of calls is unusually high for the county departments this time of year, but not drastically higher — the difference this year was timing, with the high winds coming before a lot of rain fell on the region.
“Everything came at once, basically. All over the province it was out of control,” he said. “It was definitely those high winds that played a role.”
The departments were busier than usual for another reason, as well. Biro said the large fires that burned about 35 hectares near Half Moon Lake and the County of Thorhild border were an extra burden on the departments
Those fires were particularly worrisome because six fires started within a few kilometres of each other within hours.
“(The cause) is still undetermined, but it definitely wasn’t accidental,” he said. “For us to have five fires, something like that randomly within 30 to 45 minutes apart, it definitely wasn’t accidental.”
Those fires have all been brought under control though, and despite the calls about smoke in the area, as of Friday afternoon Biro said everything still looked good out there.
“We’ve been monitoring the area over to the east,” he said. “We’ve been getting calls this last week from people spotting a bit of smoke in the area.”
As for the threat of fires from outside the county spreading into the county, it is unlikely right now there is always the possibility that could change very quickly.
“You can never say never,” he said. “Slave Lake was something basically out of the ordinary too. It all depends what nature throws at us.”
With July just around the corner, Biro said he anticipates there could be more fires in the area and also on provincial lands that Alberta Sustainable Resources Development crews will fight.
“Usually July is the worst time for the northern area for forest fires,” he said. “We’re not really sure what to expect with sustainable resources in the forested area. They’ve been getting a real kicking in May.”
That might not be all, either, as the fire departments also work on flood mitigation if rivers in the area swell too high.
“June could be the flooding for the Pembina River. Usually June is the peak season, so we could be dealing with a flood plus more fires,” Biro said.
The important thing for residents to remember, however, is to be aware if there is a fire ban in effect and to promptly report any uncontrolled fires they see.
