Alberta communities plead for more provincial firefighting help

Some Alberta municipalities say the province has been slow to react to calls for more firefighting support and a long-term plan to better protect communities outside the Forest Protection Area (FPA).

This area, which covers about half the province, is considered the Alberta government's jurisdiction, but communities such as Parkland County and parts of Brazeau and Yellowhead counties fall outside this zone.

All these communities were hit hard by wildfires in 2023 and, at some point, struggled to get help from the province.

“Early on in our fire, we phoned the province and said, ‘This is out of control, we need help.’ We asked for 100 firefighters, I believe we got 15,” Brazeau County councillor Kara Westerlund told CTV News Edmonton.

“A couple hours later, it was really getting out of control. We asked for air support and were told ‘no’ because it was too busy fighting a fire a couple counties over from us.”

Westerlund is also the vice president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA).

In November, the association passed a resolution to engage with the province on a long-term strategy to tackle wildfires outside the FPA and create a working group to discuss these issues.

RMA also agreed to advocate to the province for more rotary wing pilots trained in bucketing.

“Most municipalities … do not have the budget nor the tax ability to be buying helicopters and training pilots to just be sitting on standby in municipal airports,” said Westerlund.

“This definitely needs to come from the province, and it needs to happen sooner than later.”

Aerial fire suppression near Drayton Valley on May 5, 2023. (CTV National News)Earlier this month, Westerlund told CTV News Edmonton several people had been appointed to the working group but had yet to meet.

“We need to be moving a little bit quicker than we have been,” she said.

Fire chief also calls for additional training

Parkland County’s fire chief is also calling on the province to provide better training for municipal firefighters.

“Our crews are actioning fires as initial attack, and we don't have that level of training,” Brian Cornforth explained.

“We've been asking for it from the province, and they've been able to give some of that curriculum to us, but I can say right now, we are facing a gap in that knowledge and it's a serious risk to the firefighters that respond to wildfires.”

For the first time, the county hired a private company this month to teach its firefighters and mutual aid partners what’s known as Type 2 wildland firefighting training.

“Historically, we've followed a National Fire Protection Association-based wildland training,” said deputy fire chief Sean Cunningham.

“That training program really focused on fighting from the truck, whereas now we're actually giving them the tools they need to get further back into the bush, working with portable pumps and hose.”

Parkland County firefighters and their partners learn about wildland firefighting at the Acheson Fire Station on April 10, 2023. (CTV News Edmonton)Cunningham said firefighters also learned about fire behaviour and signs they need to pull back.

“There's obviously the risk of getting entrapped by fire or burned over. Also watching for what we call snags or widow makers. Those trees that could come down on you.”

Paid on-call firefighter Riley Calci called the training “critical”.

“It’s super critical because we don't really have anyone nearby, right? We're not in the Forest Protection Area, so we're kind of frontline for all the wildland events.”

Cornforth said the “initial attack” curriculum the county is seeking builds on this training.

“These areas have been identified and brought forward to both Alberta Emergency Management and Alberta Wildfire, who are really the holders of that curriculum, and we're asking and begging for it.”

Provincial response

Christie Tucker with Alberta Wildfire responded to the curriculum concerns at the April 17 wildfire update.

“I think this speaks to the effectiveness of our training here in Alberta. The Hinton Training Centre is really the envy of the country,” she said.

New recruits participate in wildfire firefighter training in Alberta on April 8, 2024. (Miriam Valdes-Carletti/CTV News Edmonton)“We have made online training available to other jurisdictions outside the Forest Protection Zone to make sure they have the same basic understanding of wildland firefighting.”

In response to calls for more firefighting support for communities outside the FPA, Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said it is being considered.

“We are in discussions right now on some of those plans moving forward to make sure that we’re able to respond to wildfires across the province as needed.”