Grainswest - Fall 2023

Fall 2023 Grains West 30 More than in past years, wildfires encroached on farms and communities in the Peace Country. Here, firefighters access a water source. T he Alberta Emergency Management Agency co-ordinates the activities of organizations that respond to emergencies and disasters. The organization reported extreme wildfire danger levels across the province during July with a record amount of area burned for the year by late that month. Central and northern forested areas were most greatly affected. In spring of this year, a large wildfire tore through the Peace River Forest Area. Dubbed Fire 18, it started on May 5 and burned for approximately six weeks. While there were other fires in the region, this one was unusual because it jumped the Peace River from Saddle Hills County to Clear Hills County and burned along the waterway where there are many grazing leases. “We’ve probably had fires as large as this in other years, however, they’ve been away from the populated area more than this one,” said Allan Rowe, chief administrative officer of Clear Hills County. FARM IN FLAMES Dick Hale has farmed for more than 50 years with his brother Jody near Worsley, a hamlet located in Clear Hills County. With the help of their children, the brothers operate Hale Farms, a 10,000- acre mixed operation that produces field crops, hay and cattle. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” said Hale. While he has experienced three or four fires in his area in the past, this one most affected his farm. “Some of the guys who were before us, they talk about a fire in 1949 that swept across this area,” said Hale. “The thing then, there was more bush.” With more farmland now, wildfires usually stop when they reach a clearing. This year was an exception with the wildfire burning across pastures, including some of Hale’s grazing leases along the Peace River. As it was early in the season, there wasn’t enough green growth to stop its progress. “Even the green grass, it seemed like it would burn, it was so dry,” added Hale. Many dead poplar trees along the river also served as a fuel source for the fire. “The wind was blowing, and the sparks were hot, and the grass was just tinder dry. Some of the pastures burned completely off, and a lot of the bush land did.” Hale said the fire was difficult to control and unpredictable. It jumped the river, swept along its banks and travelled 24 kilometres in one day. “It would get in the peat moss ground and the willow ground, just burning the ground like a smouldering cigar. Then the wind would get up and here it would take off again. It just seemed really hard to keep it under control.” Two of Hale’s grazing leases along the Peace River were affected. Pasture, trees and fenceposts were burned and fence wire damaged. “We had to try to repair all the fences so we could get our cattle out to pasture,” said Hale. While they made repairs, they kept the cattle penned. This used up feed that’s become more valuable because the dry spring has decreased its production. While materials to build new fences are costly, Hale said the labour was the biggest expense for his farm because they tried to fix what remained. Much of the work involved the removal of trees that had burned and fallen on the fence lines. “That took us a lot of days with a lot of guys trying to get [those] fences so we could even use [them],” he said. Some of the burned fences are still effective, but Hale predicts they’ll need to be replaced eventually because the wire is now rusty. By July, the Hales had repaired enough fencing to turn their cattle out to graze. “We may have more foot troubles, especially in breeding FEATURE