The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is under a fire ban that is province wide. This ban includes the Urban Service Area of Fort McMurray and the Fort McMurray Forest Protection Area. The fire ban was implemented because of the weather, which has been hot and extremely dry lately. Provincial areas under the fire ban prohibit any open fire in a backcountry area, random camping areas, and campgrounds. Existing permits are suspended while the ban is still in place. Cooking is still allowed in these areas as long as gas or propane stoves or barbeques are used. Also allowed in these areas are the CSA approved portable propane fire pits. Anyone who violates the fire ban may be fined up to $5,000, and is the violation leads to an emergency response because a fire starts the individual in violation can be charged for the costs involved.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has announced that the only outdoor fires allowed in the Urban Service Area is barbeques, every other type of fire is prohibited because of the fire ban. A Government of Alberta spokesperson said that the last province wide fire ban happened in 2011. To find out more and to access detailed maps individuals can go to albertafirebans.ca. According to the provincial department of Agriculture and Forestry data there have been 629 wildfires since April 1 in the province. Since Monday there were 15 wildfires in provincial areas that were not under control. In the Fort MacMurray area alone there have been 24 wildfires so far, with a total of 3 hectares burnt.