2020 a ‘relatively quiet’ year for wildfires in Alberta
Provincial officials say Alberta’s 2020 wildfire season that officially ended on Oct. 31 was “a relatively quiet season thanks to the diligence of Albertans, effective department preparations, and substantial precipitation in many areas of the province.”
In total, 703 wildfires burned 3,265 hectares (8,068 acres) this season, 0.8 per cent of total area burned compared with the five-year average.
This season’s largest fire, the Devil’s Head wildfire located north of Canmore and currently classified as being held, was started by an abandoned campfire.
The 2019 fire season was one of the worst on record in terms of hectares burned (more than 880,000 hectares or about 2.2 million acres) – second only to 1981. Seventy-one per cent of the wildfires were human-caused.