Alberta already preparing for 2025 wildfire season

Months ahead of fire season, Alberta Wildfire is preparing an area of about 8,000 hectares near Ribbon Creek for a prescribed burn and hiring additional firefighters.

Alberta wildfire crews have already begun to perform prescribed burns around the province, ahead of the 2025 forest fire season.

Starting on Jan. 6, 8,000 hectares around Ribbon Creek in Kananaskis are set to have dead-fall and other potentially dangerous fuel disposed of before it can become a real threat. Wildfire season begins in early March and lasts through October.

Melissa Story with Alberta Wildfire told Global News the timeline to complete the work in the area is open-ended.

“The first unit that we are anticipating to burn will be about 260 hectares,” Story explained. “Right now we’re focusing on containment lines, because the interior burn will not happen until those containment lines are in place.”

Alberta employs wildfire fighters year round, but during peak season, Story says, they need an additional 800 firefighters and support staff.

“We are currently hiring and getting crews prepared,” said Story. “We keep a contingent of firefighters on staff throughout the winter to action wildfires should they happen.”

At nearby Nakiska Ski Area, Albertans like Clay Hubschmid and Nathalie Babineau said they appreciate that the Province is being proactive and taking the threat of wildfires seriously.

“It’s just that time of the cycle,” Hubschmid said of the prescribed burns. “If it’s gonna save some homes, and save some smoke then yeah, absolutely.”