There are currently 50 carryover fires that are burning in Alberta. According to Alberta Wildfire, the province's five-year average is six carryover fires.

Melissa Story, provincial information officer for Alberta Wildfire said that what the media has dubbed as 'zombie fires' is an incorrect classification. She explained that carryover fires are wildfires that began in the previous season and have continued to burn.

"We started in January with 64 of them; we had 10 times as many as our five-year average, which is quite a few to see on the landscape," she said. "However, with the size of wildfires that we did see last season, it wasn't unlikely that that was going to happen. When we get wildfires that are of the size that we saw last year, they can burn underground for months and even years." 

Story said that Albert Wildfire is consistently checking the carryover fires to make sure they are not flaring up, this is especially important in the springtime.

"In [the] springtime when they smoulder underneath the ground, it almost acts as an insulator and then when the snow melts in the springtime, exposing dry dead grass, we get wind mixed with it; they can flare up in the spring."

She said that with the predictions of drought in Alberta in the coming months, there is worry that the situation may worsen. She added that throughout the winter months, wildland firefighters have been battling fires. 

"We had a wildfire up by Fox Lake that was from 2023 that started to flare up in January. We sent crews out there to dig out hotspots [and] they had to dig deep in the ground, typically between four and six feet. We put water on the fire, we turned the dirt to ensure that those areas are completely extinguished, because it is a concern that they may flare up in the spring."

Given that the majority of wildfires are human-caused - though not necessarily intentional; she reminded residents that even the simplest things can avert disaster.

"It can be as simple as ensuring a campfire is out. If you are out camping this summer, we recommend that people soak the ashes, stir them and soak them again. Recreational fires are a leading cause of human-caused wildfires in Alberta," she added. "We also encourage anyone who sees smoke or fire in the forest to call 3-10-Fire and report it; the quicker we can respond to a wildfire - it's going to stay small, and we can get it contained quickly. It's the same thing for off-highway vehicles."

Story said that there continues to be an elevated danger of wildfires throughout the province, especially in the central and northern parts of the province.

"We're continuing to monitor what's happening throughout the province and what the predictions are, but as it sits right now, the drought conditions are high to extreme in a lot of parts of the province. We are taking a special interest in those areas and making sure that we have firefighters available." 

This year, Alberta's government announced on February 20 that the wildfire season would be starting ten days early due to dry conditions. 

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