Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen shared improvements to wildfire weather monitoring in Alberta. (Government of Alberta)

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Alberta spending $900,000 to upgrade monitoring as wildfire season begins

Apr 10, 2025 | 4:47 PM

As Alberta heads into the heart of wildfire season, the province is committing almost $1 million to upgrade its early-warning systems.

Forestry Minister Todd Loewen says $900,000 is being allocated to upgrade and expand its network of 150 weather stations.

These stations monitor environmental conditions, like temperature, humidity, wind and moisture, in real time to help fire crews know where they will be needed when the weather gets hot and dry.

The monitors will also be able to monitor snowpack levels, which are strong indicators of Alberta’s fire risk early in the season.

Alberta’s wildfire season has been slow off the mark, with 65 wildfires recorded so far compared with the 115 blazes that had started by this time last year.

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

The wildfire season officially began March 1, but the peak danger doesn’t start until around May.

Loewen said they are preparing as best they can for the inevitable.

“(We’re) cautiously optimistic, but we know we do have challenges coming forward,” he said Thursday.

“We know we’re gonna have fires.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2025.

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.