Alberta is adding firefighters to the expected wildfire season

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Alberta is sending more firefighters, more volunteers and more high-tech tools as it expects another intense wildfire season, the province's forestry minister said Thursday.

With the province facing a severe summer drought, Todd Lowen said the future will be the same as Alberta getting drier and warmer.

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“We've had other years with very little snow like this,” he said in an interview. “We've had other winters with exceptional amounts of snow.

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“But I think we can agree that warm, dry years are more common.”

Last year there was a record number of forest fires in the region. Before the season officially ended in October, Alberta faced 1,088 wildfires burning 2.2 million hectares from north to south.

The province is still battling 54 “spent” fires from last year, which were smoldering before they flared up again under this year's light snow.

The United Conservative government has been criticized this year for not being prepared for the kind of fires Lowen wants to prevent.

“We are preparing for the worst,” he said.

More fighters and volunteers are expected

Lowen did not say how many firefighters he would hire before the budget is considered, but said the province has seen record applications.

It also makes more use of local community volunteers, he said.

“We had a lot of communities — local communities and others — wanting to help, but we didn't have a system in place for them.”

Some training and “a bit of a physical challenge” will be needed, Loewen said.

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“That doesn't mean we're going to put them in front of a wall of fire. But it is possible to work more from both sides.”

There will be a stricter stance on human-caused fires, which account for about 60 percent of wildfire ignitions.

“The biggest thing is the fire,” Loewen said. “We're going to be a little more aggressive in our fire ban.”

He announced that the province would roll out new equipment, such as helicopters equipped with night vision to allow operations in the dark when the flames are less intense. Crews will also have equipment that allows them to work at night.

The RMA president wants crews to be based in more communities

Paul McLauchlin, president of Alberta Rural Municipalities, said he is working with training local volunteers to help professional firefighters protect threatened communities. Firefighters don't have a mandate to protect homes and buildings, McLauchlin said.

“I fully support it,” he said. “There are skills you need to (know) when it's time to understand and how to fight a fire safely and when it's time to evacuate.”

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But McLauchlin said his group would still like to see more equipment and crews located in communities outside the province's forested area. With the elimination of helicopter rescue teams in 2019, it will be even more important to quickly deploy firefighters to threatened communities, he said.

“The mobilization of crews (last year) was very important,” he said. “Our members also want to offer their buildings to firefighting agencies in different parts (of the province) for mobilization.”

Lowen said there are no plans to change the location of the firefighters.

The minister acknowledged the impact of climate change

Lowen acknowledged that climate change, which increases the availability of fuel and lengthens the fire season, will change the rules for fighting wildfires. Proactive measures should be taken around communities, such as more firefighters.

Forestry practices will have to change, especially around old-growth forest.

“Harvesting old growth is useful for suppressing wildfires,” Loven said. “When a fire enters a previously harvested area, the fire either stops or is severely suppressed.”

This may not mean cutting back old growth. This may mean a different cut.

“We want to make sure we can harvest in high-risk areas and in patterns that reduce fire growth,” Loewen said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 8, 2024.

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