Due to the impending drought, Alberta Wildfire season updates started this week.

Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry and Parks held a media conference on Thursday, April 18 to update Albertans.

Loewen said the province has already had more wildfires this year than last.

"To date in 2024, we have had more wildfire starts than we had in 2023. All wildfires are currently being held, under control or extinguished. At present, we have 297 government wildland firefighters, 280 fire tack firefighters, and 172 seasonal support staff in addition to our regular permanent full-time staff. We have also secured additional contracts for air tankers, night-vision-equipped helicopters, and heavy equipment, hoses, pumps, drones, sprinklers; all ready to go. We also have increased our ability to fight wildfires at night. Allowing us to be more effective with our control efforts. Despite heightened wildfire activity for this time of year, we have already fully extinguished 148 fires since the beginning of 2024."

Alberta Wildfire Information unit manager Christie Tucker said they have been busy.

"We started this year with 64 wildfires still burning from last year. It does mean that firefighters are entering the Spring with a heavier fire load than usual. We've already seen more than 500 hectares burned and that's about 400 hectares more than we had at this time last year. There are currently 50 wildfires burning in the forest protection area of Alberta. Of those, four are classified as being held and 46 are now under control."

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