Wildfire season is here and it is causing some problems in the province, luckily Airdrie has not seen any fires as of yet.

According to the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard, there have been 255 wildfires in the last seven days, 40 within the past 24 hours.

Terri Lang, a Meteorologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada explained things won't get better anytime soon.

"It does look like that dry spell is going to be here for a bit. No chance of rain coming at least till the end of the week, maybe on the weekend. Not all the weather models are bringing in chances of rain and it's not a widespread rain, it will be more of a shower or thundershower activity. Of course, thundershowers are not particularly helpful, because they bring lightning with them."

When it comes to how much precipitation we have had over the past two months, things have been quite dry.

"March was particularly dry, only 4.8 millimetres of rain/snow from an average of 17.8." 

This was actually the ninth driest March in 140 years, so that has set the stage for what we have now, explained Lang.

"The month of April was 6.4 millimetres out of an average of 25.2 millimetres."

May, which is known to be a wetter month, will start with a dry spell, and with that, the Airdrie Fire Department (AFD) is reminding residents to be cautious and help prevent wildfires.

Deputy Fire Chief of the AFD Garth Rabel explained why it's important to be safe and prevent these fires.

"With so much grassland in and around our community and then with these winds that we're having a few days ago, anything that did start could possibly get out of control quite quickly with it being so dry."

Rabel went on to talk about some of the main fire starters we see within Airdrie.

"Fires are typically started by human cause. So, things like keeping our cigarettes in the car, and not throwing them into the grass, that's definitely number one. When you're having a backyard fire in a fire pit, just be cognizant and follow the rules that are put in place for safety. Make sure that children are aware and not to be playing with matches or lighters, that's very important as well."

Rabel finished off by saying if a fire is started call 911 as soon as possible so fire crews can get on the scene.

On Monday, along with Rocky View County, Mountain View County issued a Fire Restriction which affects the entire county due to the current and forecasted conditions. The Fire Restriction is in effect until further notice.

"This requires that all outdoor fires presently burning, be extinguished and the lighting of any outdoor fires is banned. Open fires; fireworks; recreational fires not contained in an acceptable fire pit; and permit-burning fires are prohibited," Mountview County stated on their website. 

The only exceptions currently are acceptable burning barrels; acceptable fire pits; acceptable outdoor fireplaces; barbecues; household fireplaces; and AER flaring. All current fire permits and fireworks permits are hereby cancelled, and no new fire or fireworks permits will be issued until the Fire Restriction has been lifted.