Keep your tank above half through fire season
Alberta’s wildfire preparedness page tells residents to keep their fuel tank full during fire season because gas stations near active fires routinely...
Alberta’s wildfire preparedness page tells residents to keep their fuel tank full during fire season because gas stations near active fires routinely lose power, run dry, or have lineups stretching for hours. The same applies across the West, in BC and the western US alike. Treat the half-tank mark as your refuel trigger from the start of May through the end of September, even if you are nowhere near an active fire — wind shifts and ember casts can change the picture in a single afternoon. Top up before long drives, before any trip into interior or northern fire country, and the moment your community goes on evacuation alert. Carry a jerry can if local fire-code rules permit. Diesel and EV drivers face the same logic: charging stations and diesel pumps fail when the grid goes down, and rural networks are thinner than urban ones. If you are evacuating, fuel up before you leave the alert zone if possible — there may be no fuel available outside it for many kilometres.
In recent western evacuations, gas stations along the route routinely ran dry or lost power within hours — a half-tank rule is what gets you out without queueing.
Source: Alberta — Wildfire Preparedness
Last reviewed 2026-05-02.
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