In the wake of a devastating wildfire in Fort McMurray, and concerning conditions that have already resulted in two large blazes in southeastern Manitoba, provincial fire program manager Gary Friesen said late last week that northern fire conditions were stable for the most part.
“We did have good soil moisture going into the season: we had slightly below-average snowfall, but we also had good rains from August through the fall and into the winter,” said Friesen.
The moisture mitigates the period between the spring thaw and the greening period, when plants are dry and prone to ignition.
Conditions may deteriorate as we move deeper into summer, however: El Niño was expected to bring dry weather to the western parts of the province, and predictions forecast such conditions to hold until roughly July.
However, Friesen noted that Manitoba sits on the border of the El Niño’s area of effect, making predictions somewhat unpredictable: While northern weather patterns seem consistent with El Niño, the recent anomalous snow and rain in the southwest is not. Nonetheless, Friesen notes, “If it happens, we’ll have a very busy season until then.”
And a busy season it is. On May 4, CBC reported that although the province would support Fort McMurray in its disaster response efforts, it would not be volunteering firefighting personnel due to our own volatile situation in the south.
“Our situation is nowhere near as critical as it is in Western Canada, but we are drying more every day,” said Friesen.
