Alberta government levied more than $11K in fines during this wildfire season

The Alberta government has levied more than $11,000 in fines for wildfire-prevention violations this year.

Nineteen violation tickets, with fines totalling $11,520, were given out between April 1 and July 31, according to statistics provided by Alberta's forestry and parks ministry.

Most of the tickets were for failing to extinguish an open outdoor fire during a fire ban, which comes with a $600 fine.

More fines have been levied this year than last year, but in the past five years, 2020 saw the highest number handed out.That year, 60 tickets were issued, most of which were related to fire ban or fire restriction violations.

Alberta's wildfire season is the worst on record, having surpassed the previous 1981 record in mid-June for hectares burned.Both British Columbia and Alberta have increased wildfire-related violation fine amounts in the past decade.The penalty for disobeying a fire ban in B.C. more than tripled in 2016.Fines under Alberta's Forest and Prairie Protection Act doubled in 2020. The highest fine amount is $1,200.

According to the Alberta Wildfire Status Dashboard on Monday, there have been more than 900 wildfires in the province this year.More than half are suspected to have been caused by humans, 37 per cent are suspected to have been caused by lightning and nearly nine per cent are still under investigation.