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.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Group tied to Islamic State plotted fatal Ontario restaurant shooting: Crown
A gunman who is accused of killing a young Ontario man and shooting four of his family members at their small Mississauga restaurant in 2021 was allegedly part of a trio who had pledged allegiance to the listed terrorist group Islamic State, a Crown attorney said in an opening statement in the Brampton murder trial this week.
Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the millennial generation
Pope Francis paved the way for the canonization of the first saint of the millennial generation on Thursday, attributing a second miracle to a 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
Leaving time on the table: Surveys show unused paid vacation, 'quiet vacationing'
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.
Independent Toronto MP Kevin Vuong asks Poilievre to let him join Conservative caucus
Independent Toronto MP Kevin Vuong says he is asking Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to let him join the Tory caucus, and intends to seek a nomination for the party in a Greater Toronto Area riding.