Month-old peat fire still smouldering in west Edmonton
A peat fire is seen smouldering off of Anthony Henday Drive in west Edmonton. (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson)
If you're cruising down Anthony Henday Drive near 111 Avenue, you might notice some extra haze as a peat fire continues to smoulder.
The fire is over a month old, and caused several businesses to evacuate on May 6. Northbound Anthony Henday Drive was also shut down between Stony Plain Road and the Yellowhead Highway.
Greg Verkaik, a PhD candidate at McMaster University in Hamilton Ont., specializes in wildfire research within boreal peatlands.
He says peat fires are different from other fires because they burn underground and can smoulder for weeks, months, or even years.
'Once peat ignites and starts to burn, it's really difficult to extinguish,' said Verkaik. 'Peat is a high organic content soil, so it likes to burn once it starts.'
In order to extinguish a peat fire, crews have to use large amounts of water or they have to manually dig up the fire, bring it to the surface and then extinguish it, taking a lot of manpower and equipment to do so.
'We've seen evidence of fires burning through the winter with snow cover on the ground, and there's still smoke coming out of the ground,' said Verkaik. 'It speaks to how persistent these fires are.'
Peat fire
A peat fire is seen smouldering off of Anthony Henday Drive in west Edmonton on June 9, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson)
Peat is typically very wet and is commonly found in the boreal forest. Verkaik said Canada has more peatlands by area than any other country in the world. Parts of Alberta can have up to 30 per cent of its area covered in peatlands.
While peat is wet, things like drought and industry can dry it out, making it more combustible. Because there are high-density levels of carbon in peat, and they often serve as a sink to heavy metals, and smoke from peat fires can be 'detrimental' to people's health, said Verkaik.
'Smouldering fires also burn at much lower temperatures. There's not a complete combustion, so they release a lot of smoke,' he said.
Carry over fires, or zombie fires, are common in peatlands because they are difficult to locate and determine if they're out. Infrared cameras are often used to look for hotspots.
Peat fire
A peat fire has been smouldering off of Anthony Henday Drive in west Edmonton for over a month. (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson)
Verkaik's focus in his research is on fuel management and restoration strategies in peatlands. According to him, a pristine peatland can be restored within 10 to 20 years. But if the peatland has been drained, say, for potting soil, it's unlikely to ever return to its former pristine state.
Derrick Forsythe, wildfire information officer with Alberta Wildfire, said they use machines to dig trenches in the burning peat, and then flood the trenches with 'massive' amounts of water.
'It's not sophisticated, it's not high-tech,' said Forsythe. 'It's just a lot of heavy equipment, moving a lot of earth.'
Peat fire
Crews work on a smouldering peat fire off of Anthony Henday Drive in west Edmonton on June 9, 2025. (CTV News Edmonton/Amanda Anderson)
City of Edmonton firefighting crews were initially working on the smouldering blaze off the Henday. Alberta Infrastructure owns the land and hired a contractor to monitor the fire after it died down.
'As this is a peat fire, there continues to be some flare-ups, with some as recent as last week,' said Benji Smith, press secretary to Alberta Infrastructure. 'A contractor is actively monitoring the situation, continuing to turn and flood the soil to suppress the fire.'
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson
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