2026 wildfire season
Apr 8, 2026, 19:03 PMPreparing for wildfire season
Wildfire conditions in Alberta can change quickly. That’s why FortisAlberta prepares yearround to reduce wildfire risk and help keep communities safe. In 2026, we continue to invest in safety measures that protect the communities we serve while delivering safe and reliable electricity across the province.
Our responsibility goes beyond operating the electric distribution system. As a local Alberta company, we live and work in the same communities as our customers, and that connection guides how we plan, prepare and respond throughout wildfire season.
Reducing wildfire risk across our electric distribution system
FortisAlberta’s comprehensive wildfire mitigation strategy includes vegetation management near power lines, regular maintenance and inspection programs, building resilient infrastructure and investing in technology that helps us better understand local conditions.
These measures are complemented by enhanced situational awareness using tools such as FortisAlberta-owned weather stations, risk modeling tools, field observations and publicly available data. These tools help our teams monitor conditions in real-time and respond quickly as wildfire risk changes.
Using the right tools at the right time
Wildfire mitigation requires different approaches depending on conditions.
During high wildfire-risk conditions, we may enable Enhanced Powerline Safety Settings (EPSS). EPSS allows our system to respond more quickly if a tree, debris or animals contacts a power line, preventing automatic re-energization and reducing the extent of the sparks emitted from the fault.
During extreme wildfire-risk conditions, and only in rare cases, FortisAlberta may carry out a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) in designated areas. A PSPS is a last resort measure that involves temporarily turning off power to help protect communities during extreme weather and dangerous wildfire-risk conditions.
Wildfire safety is a shared responsibility
While we work to protect the electrical system, wildfire preparedness also plays an important role at home. In addition to Alberta government recommendations regarding wildfire preparedness, we encourage customers to stay informed through community emergency alerts, have a plan in place and be ready for potential power outages during wildfire season.
What does wildfire preparedness look like in practice?
Chase Starling, Operations Manager at FortisAlberta, shares in this video how our teams work to reduce wildfire risk and reflects on his personal experience being evacuated during the 2023 Drayton Valley wildfire. His story highlights both the importance of prevention and the commitment behind our wildfire response efforts.
