Alberta’s government is investing nearly $7 million to create six new Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) teams to protect communities at risk from wildfires.
In response to increased wildfire activity in recent years, Alberta’s government is acting to better safeguard communities and strengthen the way emergencies are responded to. This includes record investments in equipment and personnel, as well as targeted strategies to enhance local firefighting capacity, readiness and resilience.
Alberta's government is responding proactively to wildfire threats by funding six local fire departments through the Wildland Urban Interface Program to boost wildfire preparedness and response capabilities.
This initiative quadruples the number of existing Wildland Urban Interface teams, ensuring a stronger, more coordinated effort to protect communities from potential wildfire emergencies.
“We are effectively quadrupling the number of Wildland Urban Interface teams in Alberta to ensure the safety of Albertans’ businesses, neighbourhoods and critical infrastructure during wildfires,” said Mike Ellis, the minister of public safety and emergency services.
The Wildland Urban Interface Program targets zones where developments such as homes, farms or industrial sites border or mix with natural vegetation at risk from wildfire.
Teams consist of firefighters who have the specialized training and equipment needed to respond to wildfires that enter a community or where developed areas meet wildland areas.
This program is a partnership between the provincial government and local authority fire services and includes funding from Natural Resources Canada. The province is responsible for coordination and funding, while local fire departments contribute personnel, firefighting equipment and resources.
Each new Wildland Urban Interface Team will receive $1.09 million over two to three years for personnel costs, administrative support, equipment, maintenance and travel costs to help develop and expand the program’s training and operational capacity.
The local authorities receiving funding are:
-
Town of Strathmore
-
Town of Hinton
-
Town of Slave Lake
-
Lac La Biche County
-
Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council
-
Kananaskis Improvement District
There are two existing teams based out of Clearwater County and the Town of High Level.
To learn more about the program, visit the Government of Alberta website.
With information from the Government of Alberta.
Sign up to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.
Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@centralalbertaonline.com.
CentralAlbertaOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CentralAlbertaOnline app.