Province quadruples funding for wildfire protection to $15 million

As the province gears up for another wildfire season, Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier announced a big boost Thursday to funding that helps Alberta communities protect themselves against wildfires.

The province will provide $15 million a year for the FireSmart program, up from $3.8 million last year. The government is making a three-year commitment of $45 million, which includes $10.5 million specifically for the Fort McMurray area, which is still recovering from last year’s massive wildfire.

The fire destroyed homes, dragged the economy down and caused emotional trauma in firefighters and residents.

FireSmart is a Canada-wide program that helps communities reduce the risk of wildfire and plan for the worst-case scenario. The funds will go to wildfire education, vegetation management and emergency planning, among other things.

The program is just “one tool in the tool box,” Carlier stated in a news release.

“The past few years have shown us that we need to do everything we can to help reduce the risk of wildfire,” he said.

With 70 per cent of the wildfires in the province started by human activity, prevention is a major focus of the government’s wildfire strategy. The Fort McMurray fire is still fresh in people’s minds and Carlier said in an interview Monday he hopes it will encourage people to be more careful this year.

Carlier made the announcement at the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry wildfire warehouse and air tanker base at Fort McMurray International Airport, before embarking on a tour of the facility.

The province has moved the official start of the wildfire season forward to March 1, to allow fire crews to start getting equipment ready, do last-minute recruiting and prepare the airbases and towers. Firefighters were battling wildfires as early as mid-April last year, but wildfire prevention officials are hopeful that wet weather in most of the province will make for a different spring this year.