A Dry Summer Put Bow Valley Wildfire Defences To The Test

The Bow Valley spent much of the summer with conditions that could have produced a very different wildfire season.

There were long stretches of high and extreme fire danger, a fire ban was imposed at one point, and dry weather left forests and vegetation increasingly vulnerable to ignition.

Yet no major wildfire took hold in the Bow Valley.

Local fire officials say the relatively quiet season was the result of several factors, including moisture earlier in the year, restrictions during periods of elevated fire danger, public cooperation and years of work to reduce the amount of fuel available to burn.

But officials caution that a quiet season does not mean the Bow Valley’s wildfire risk has diminished.

“We plan for the worst and are happy when there are no local fires,” the Town of Banff said in response to questions about this year's risk.

As of Sept. 23, the Calgary Forest Area, which includes much of the Bow Valley, had recorded 99 wildfires since the beginning of the year, burning more than 22 hectares. 

The forest area had no active wildfires at the time, although wildfire danger had climbed back to high after several warm, dry and windy days.

The season started with a warning

The MD of Bighorn's wildfire season began with a particularly early warning.

On Jan. 14, the municipality experienced a wildfire during a period with little to no snow cover and unusually dry conditions. At the time, officials were concerned the year could develop into an active and difficult fire season.

Instead, conditions shifted.

The MD says increased precipitation through much of the season improved moisture levels in soils and fuels, reducing the potential for rapid fire growth.

“The year began with some concern,” said Rob Duffy, the MD's fire chief and deputy director of emergency management. “However, conditions changed as the year progressed.”

By late summer, the valley had experienced several dry stretches. But the moisture received earlier in the season meant the landscape was not starting from the same level of dryness it might have been after a prolonged dry spring.

That mattered when conditions became hot and dry.

Alberta Wildfire's Calgary Forest Area reached extreme wildfire danger on July 31 before dropping to very high in early August. Forest fuels remained very dry, and a fire restriction prohibited outdoor wood fires on public land outside designated facilities.

Rainfall and cooler temperatures brought some relief in mid-August, but the danger climbed back to high by Sept. 23.

Keeping small fires small

For fire agencies, the number of fires is only part of the story.

A wildfire becomes a major threat when an ignition encounters enough continuous fuel, favourable weather and time to spread before crews can contain it.

That makes early detection and initial attack critical.

The MD of Bighorn says its relatively moderate season reflected both weather and ongoing preparedness.

FireSmart work, debris removal and vegetation management have continued around communities, while construction of the South Boundary Fireguard is adding another layer of protection.

The Town of Canmore says those measures reduce fuel around homes and infrastructure, improve access for firefighters and create more options for crews when a fire starts.

The Bow Valley Community Fireguard is being is being constructed in phases from the East Park Gates toward Dead Man's Flats. The project is intended to create breaks in the forest that can slow a wildfire and give firefighters safer, more strategic locations from which to work.

The Town of Banff points to another change over the past five years: increasing coordination among jurisdictions and land managers, including cross-jurisdictional training and scenario planning.

Banff officials also credited residents and visitors with following precautions during periods of high and extreme fire danger.

“There were long periods of high or extreme fire danger rating, as well as a period of a fire ban in place,” the Town said. “The precautions of our community and visitors helped avert wildfire.”

Banff National Park's fire ban ran from July 30 through Aug. 31.

A landscape that has been changing before the fires arrive

Some of the Bow Valley's wildfire protection work is easy to notice.

Trees have been removed in sections of forest around Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise, leaving broad openings that can look jarring compared with the dense forests that surrounded them.

But those changes are intended to address a long-standing problem: a century of fire suppression has left many valley-bottom forests denser and more continuous than they were.

Parks Canada says it has treated more than 22,954 hectares through 73 fire-management projects in Banff National Park since 2002. Another 1,762 hectares are currently in planning.

The agency uses a combination of prescribed fire, forest thinning, mechanical tree removal and FireSmart work.

The objective is not to stop every wildfire. It is to change how a fire behaves when one arrives.

Parks Canada says removing fuel can limit fire intensity, reduce the potential for windblown embers to start spot fires and improve the effectiveness of suppression efforts.

There is evidence of that effect from previous fires in the region.

In August 2024, a lightning-caused fire near Carrot Creek burned about 0.17 hectares before being brought under control.

Parks Canada said crews and helicopter support were dispatched within 10 minutes of the initial smoke report and that the fire was burning in the footprint of the Fairholme prescribed burn area, contributing to favourable ground conditions for suppression.

A 2025 wildfire near Moose Meadows also burned in an area that had previously been burned and mechanically thinned. Parks Canada reported low fire behaviour and ultimately contained the fire.

The agency specifically pointed to previous mechanical thinning in 2011 and a prescribed fire in 2016 as helping make suppression more effective.

Those incidents do not prove that mitigation work was responsible for the Bow Valley's quiet 2026 season. But they provide examples of the role those treatments can play once a fire starts.

The work is not finished

There are still substantial projects underway.

Parks Canada treated approximately 72 hectares of mechanical tree removal between November 2025 and March 2026 as part of the Lake Louise Community Fire Guard, completing the project's planned mechanical tree-removal work.

Around Banff, the agency has also been working on fuel reduction near Tunnel Mountain and the Spray Valley. The Tunnel Toe project covers 211.5 hectares and is designed to create a break in fuels that can reduce wildfire risk to Banff, Harvie Heights and Canmore.

The Town of Canmore and its partners are continuing construction of the Bow Valley Community Fireguard, including work along the south side of Canmore toward Dead Man's Flats. The project is expected to take several years to complete.

Duffy said the value of mitigation work is not necessarily visible in a statistic from a single fire season. Its benefits emerge when a fire encounters a treated area: less fuel, more defensible space, better access and more time for crews to act.

“Preparedness can reduce risk, but it does not remove it,” Duffy said.

That may be the clearest takeaway from 2026.

The Bow Valley experienced periods of weather capable of producing dangerous wildfire conditions. But moisture earlier in the year, fire restrictions, agency preparedness and years of work to break up continuous fuels helped reduce the risk.

The result was a relatively quiet wildfire season, but the risk did not disappear with the end of summer.

On Sept. 23, Alberta Wildfire was again warning of high fire danger in the Calgary Forest Area, with warm, dry and gusty conditions increasing the risk of fast-moving fires. There were no active fires in the area at the time, but officials stressed that wildfire season was not over.