With winds anticipated to gust up to 31 km/h Monday, city officials are postponing a planned controlled burn at Jan Reimer Park.
The City of Edmonton change of plans follows a weekend that saw three homes at Sandy Beach, a village about 65 km northwest of Edmonton, destroyed by wildfire. A new date for Edmonton’s prescribed burn for the 19-hectare section of land has not been set yet.
“Prescribed burns proceed only if weather conditions allow for effective fire control and smoke management,” said city communications coordinator Shania Villamor in a Monday morning news release. “Jan Reimer Park, the Terwillegar Park Footbridge and nearby trails remain open.”
Previously known as Oleskiw River Valley Park, Jan Reimer Park is a 193-acre natural area in the west end, south of the Fort Edmonton Footbridge and adjacent to Edmonton Country Club. Edmonton began using controlled burns as part of its wildfire mitigation strategy in 2024. The city, dousing roughly 2,000 grass fires since 2020, has about 7,400 hectares of wildland urban interface, where nature and the urban world intertwine so that fire can jump from one to the other.
Edmonton on April 20 launched its wildland-urban interface wildfire risk strategy. City council will be debating how much to budget for wildfire mitigation and response in its upcoming four-year budget.
Meanwhile, a local state of emergency was declared in the Summer Village of Sandy Beach this weekend after wildfire destroyed at least three homes and badly damaged a fourth. Sturgeon Country, which includes Sandy Beach, is under a fire ban.
Six other counties in the Edmonton region are also on high alert. Leduc County, Westlock County and Lac Ste. Anne County are all under a fire advisory, while Barrhead County, Sturgeon County and Parkland County have issued fire restrictions.
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