WILDFIRE UPDATE: MARCH 2026

Wildfire season has formally begun in Alberta where Power Wood will construct two black pellet biofuel plants over the coming 18 months.

This year’s wildfire season is considered ‘high risk’ by authorities after the Province experienced a notably warm and dry winter.

Record-low levels of rain and snow, and above average temperatures – driven by a warm Chinook wind descending the Rockies and elongated areas of high pressure – have provided forestry officials and fire crews with cause for concern.

Weather patterns in the weeks ahead will determine exactly how severe this year’s season will prove to be.

According to Government of Alberta information, since the start of the year 36 new wildfires have already taken hold in the Province, to add to the 15 still burning from 2025. All are under control for now.

Three of them are burning in the Peace River Forest Area close to where Power Wood will situate production facilities on the outskirts of the towns of both La Crete and High Level.

The area is “under scrutiny” from several bodies responsible for managing Alberta’s fire risks.

Christie Tucker, Information Unit Manager with Alberta Wildfire, cited a swath of central boreal forest from Peace River to Lac La Biche as particularly concerning.

Ms. Tucker said: “That whole area was very dry last year. It was a ‘one-in-50 years’ lack of rain in that area. So, starting off the season with dry conditions, that is certainly going to be an area that’s under scrutiny.

“We’ve seen a lot of dry conditions in the south. We’ve already had a couple of wildfires down there, and we are anticipating some warmer, long-term trends.

“The point of the year where we’re at the highest risk of wildfire is really that part of the spring where the snow has melted but we haven’t got any green grass yet.”

Alberta’s Forestry and Park Minister Todd Loewen added: “If we have some timely rain in May, we’ll have a good year ahead of us. And if we don’t, then it could be tough.”

Wildfire season in Alberta officially began on March 1st and Rocky Mountain towns like Canmore and Hinton have made early starts on mitigating the worst of the predicted wildfire season ahead.

Haunted by the fate of Jasper town in 2024, two hundred miles away Canmore is creating a natural fireguard by clearing three enormous strips of land on different sides of the town.

In Hinton, foresters are building a five-kilometre firebreak around the community to prevent oncoming blazes from reaching residents’ homes.

The thinking is sound. Fires that encounter intermittent fuel sources spread more gradually, and become much easier to tackle for firefighters.

This is one reason why Power Wood Canada Corp has made it its business to clear standing and fallen dead wood from previous wildfires, and protect Canada’s boreal forest in the process.

That lack of fuel continuity gives fire crews a greater chance of stemming future forest blazes.

But the risk of leaving partially-burned deadwood strewn in forest areas extends beyond providing fuel for the next big fire. Decaying wood is a long-term threat to the atmosphere from the decomposition gasses it releases, including methane.

So Power Wood Canada uses this fire-damaged deadwood, as well as beetle-infested lumber, to create third generation biofuel pellets.

Burned in place of coal at generating stations around the world, for their comparable calorific value to the fossil fuel, black pellets leave less than six percent on the carbon footprint of coal.

Power Wood Canada Corp’s CEO David Peters explained: “Significant fires ravaged forest areas in Peace Country last year, most notably north and east of Manning which is just 120 miles from our High Level site.

“It’s therefore unsurprising to read that a wider area in northern Alberta is on high alert this year, after a particularly warm and dry winter season punctuated only by a short cold snap in February.

“Power Wood Canada Corp monitors fire activity around its pellet production sites and will be ready to remove deadwood left in the wake of wildfires which emerge in the area this year.

“While this harvesting and clearing work will hopefully create fuel breaks and help to stem the spread of future wildfires, Power Wood also operates reforestation programmes to replace trees lost to fires in the Province.”