Fire chiefs in Alberta are desperately seeking the province’s strategy for the upcoming wildfire season.
With the dry conditions across Alberta right now, the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association is extremely concerned that this wildfire season will mirror last year’s. During the 2023 season, 1,092 wildfires burned a record 2.2-million hectares.
“Time is running short for meaningful discussions and planning from a multi-jurisdictional, multi-level government approach… with respect to this year’s upcoming fire season,” AFCA president Randy Schroeder said.
“It’s only 10 weeks until some of the municipalities will start to have legitimate fire risk and some of that might be even earlier.”
In an open letter to members of the Alberta government Wednesday, the AFCA urgently called for disclosure of its wildfire preparedness strategy.
“Combatting last year’s wildfire season in Alberta brought forth considerable challenges, highlighting the critical need for a comprehensive and proactive approach to wildfire management,” the AFCA said in the public letter.
“These wildfires are occurring with greater frequency, intensity and duration across more expansive areas than in the past.”
The AFCA said it has met with government ministries, asking for additional resources, increased training capacity, equipment, aerials and for the establishment of a provincial fire services advisory committee to help develop a dedicated provincial strategy to better manage and mitigate risks associated with wildfire seasons.
“We feel that there’s been a lack of engagement, to a degree,” Schroeder said. “We need a strategy because last year’s fires created a burden on all levels of government in terms of response.”
The AFCA said it made clear to the government that relying on municipalities to financially backstop wildland fire response “is not sustainable.”
“With or without federal funding, the AFCA is inquiring about the allocation of additional resources towards wildfire management,” the letter reads.
“There is a growing concern among fire chiefs across the province of the lack of communication of what the plan is, allocation of funds compared to previous years and plan for the recruitment and deployment of firefighters and equipment.”
The AFCA wants to know what the plan is before the wildfire season starts.
“It is imperative to have a clear, well-resourced, and collaborative strategy that involves all levels of government to effectively manage and mitigate the risks of wildfires in Alberta,” the letter states.
“We really feel we need to adequately address this,” Schroeder added.
In a statement, Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen said preparations for the 2024 wildfire season have been underway for months.
He said the Alberta government understands the concerns expressed by the AFCA, adding the province met with its members in November to discuss its approach to wildfire management outside of the Forest Protection Area.
“We want to assure Albertans and the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association that the development of a provincial wildfire mitigation strategy is well underway, and this strategy will be consistent with the National Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Strategy currently being finalized by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers,” Loewen said.
“Alberta’s provincial strategy will help guide community planning and prevention efforts, reducing the risk of damage to critical infrastructure and the risks to human health and safety.”
Loewen said the province has made “a number of improvements to our wildfire prevention, preparedness, response and mitigation efforts, and we are confident in our ability to respond to wildfires across our province.”
For the upcoming wildfire season, Loewen said the province will have enhanced night operations, including ground suppression efforts, night-vision-equipped helicopters and nighttime helitanking.
“Wildfire behaviour is typically more subdued at night, which will increase the effectiveness of suppression efforts. We are also working to secure additional aircraft, Firetack crews and heavy equipment operators through other contracts,” Loewen said.
Wildfire recruitment and training is already underway, with the province receiving a “record number of applicants for wildland firefighter positions ahead of the 2024 wildfire season,” Loewen said.
“Alberta Wildfire regularly explores new tactics, technologies and measures to improve our province’s wildfire preparedness, response and mitigation efforts. We will be ready to respond to wildfires earlier in the season and continue fighting wildfires later into the fall.”
In a statement, the Alberta NDP’s critic for Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development said the UCP government has failed to deliver an action plan that addresses the AFCA’s concerns.
Heather Sweet wants to see the UCP government immediately disclose its wildfire preparedness strategy.
“Alberta endured an unprecedented wildfire season last year that claimed a staggering 2.2-million hectares. We know that this wildfire season has the potential to be a repeat of last season, if not worse, with the lack of rain and snow we’ve had this year creating dangerously dry conditions throughout the province,” Sweet said.
Sweet said she wrote a letter earlier this month to Loewen, calling for the immediate establishment of a joint wildfire taskforce that includes members from the provincial government, municipal governments and firefighter unions.
“And we called for this task force to begin providing regular updates to Albertans in February, before fire season begins, on the proactive work that is being done to limit the damage and risk of wildfires. We also requested a seat on this task force as we are accountable to our constituents and stakeholders,” Sweet said Wednesday.
“The UCP government must also collaborate with the federal emergency management committee to create a federal firefighting task force; collaborating with all orders of governments, civil society and Indigenous communities.”
As of Wednesday, there were 56 active wildfires burning in Alberta, none of which were listed as out of control.
Wildfire season officially begins on March 1.