Fighting fire with fire: Fort McMurray uses flames to burn dry spots

The Regional Municipality ofWood Buffalo isn't taking any chances with wildfire this year.

Crews are doing controlled burns in the area, even though experts say the risk is low of another monster fire ripping through Fort McMurrayin the next decade or so.

On Wednesday, Wood Buffalo emergency services lit controlled fires in potential hot spots around Fort McMurray and will continue doing that throughoutApril.

Brad Grainger, deputy chief of operations and technical services,said firefighters will burnaway dead and dry grass that could ignite awildfire.

"Conditions are dry," Grainger said. "So we are going in and getting all those areas to make sure they are safe."

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Fort McMurrayhad 53 per cent less snow than usualthis pastwinter, Alberta's Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said in March,making the 2016-17 seasonFort McMurray's 10th driest winter since Environment Canada began keeping records.

Last May's wildfire is considered one of Alberta's worst. It consumed around 741,550 hectares of forest, an area larger than P.E.I.

Grainger said the burn abatement program complementsits $1.5 million FireSmart winter program, which removed heavier materials.

"They were going in taking down trees, taking out high volume," Grainger said. "Now we'll burn all that grass and all the small pieces of debris."

Before Wednesday's burn abatement program began, the municipality issued radio advertisements and posted advisories on social media to notifyresidents that they may see smoke or fire in their neighbourhood.

"We want to be sensitive to our citizens," Grainger said. "We want to make sure we don't put any fear in our citizens when we are doing this burn abatement."

During the winter FireSmart program, the municipality said it received a number of complaints from people who said the controlled burns triggered traumatic memories of May's wildfire.

The municipality has directed residents having a difficult time coping to its community wellness support resource site.

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