With stories in the news about forest fire raging in California and north of Canmore, Central Albertans can rest easy, as the risk in our area remains low to moderate.

While we didn't get as many plus 30 days this summer as some people would have liked, local fire departments are grateful for the cooler and wetter weather which allowed us to avoid any dangerous and costly wildfires in our area.

Lacombe County's Fire Chief Drayton Bussiere says we had enough moisture during the spring and summer that we are in pretty good shape right now.

“Things are starting to dry up a bit, but nothing exceptionally concerning right now. The cooler temperatures at night actually help that as some of the moisture stays in the ground, so that’s good.”

Bussiere says even though it's starting to get cooler at night, harvest season always leads to an increase in fire risk.

“This type of year is always kind of a bit of a risk with all the activity in the field and those kinds of things, we’re always kind of making sure we’re keeping an eye on things right now so we can avoid any significant issues.”

He reminds residents and farmers to take extra caution when out in the fields, especially on windy days where a small, controlled burn can quickly turn into an out of control wildfire.

You can click here to check out any fire bans currently on in our province at AlbertaFireBans.ca.

You can also check out the current status map for active fires in our province by clicking here to go to AlbertaWildfire.ca.

A snapshot of the Alberta Fire Bans website from Thursday, September 10th, 2020 at 9:00 am, shows a number of bans, restrictions, and advisory's in place for much of southern Alberta.