The RMA’s Wildfire Working Group (WWG) had its third meeting on August 21, 2024. The mandate of the WWG is to develop a strategy to manage wildfires outside the Forest Protection Area (FPA), as called for by the RMA resolution 7-23F: Strategy for Management of Wildland Fires Outside Forest Protection Area. Members of the WWG represent:
- Brazeau County
- Leduc County
- Parkland County
- Westlock County
- ABmunis
- Alberta Fire Chiefs Association
- Alberta Forest Products Association
- Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA)
- Alberta Forestry and Parks
- Alberta Environment and Protected Areas
- Alberta Municipal Affairs
- The WWG is chaired by RMA District 3 Director John Burrows and co-chaired by RMA District 4 Director Karen Rosvold
In this meeting, working group members reviewed the initial survey analysis, had discussion sessions on the categories of Preparedness and Response, and had a presentation from Laura Stewart about FireSmart and Sherry Norton about FRIAA and the programs they offer.
While the structure of the final strategy has not yet been set, the WWG has found it useful to break discussions into three sections made up of issue-specific sub-sections. The three overarching themes are preparedness, response, and recovery. The August 21 meeting saw an in-depth discussion on preparedness and response, with the WWG making progress towards draft recommendations that will inform the strategy.
Preparedness
Training
- How to improve preparedness for both municipalities and the Government of Alberta.
- How resource sharing and communications are handled across various municipal, provincial, and law enforcement stakeholders.
- Members considered how consolidating various training curriculums can help prevent redundancies and disseminate resources more efficiently.
Communication
- Members identified that residents require clear, up to date information that properly communicates the severity of the wildfire situation, in order for evacuations to be effective
- Education and information campaigns are most appropriate prior to rather than during emergency events when the general public is less likely to be receptive.
Intermunicipal Collaboration
- Mutual aid agreements and leveraging pre-existing working relationships are effective in improving wildfire response, and their further use should be explored.
- Intermunicipal collaboration proved challenging if it occurred across the FPA boundary, given the uncertainty around each group’s jurisdiction.
Delegation: Laura Stewart, FireSmart and Sherry Norton, FRIAA
- Laura Stewart shared the principles of the provincial FireSmart program, including a focus on how municipalities can be involved. This led to a discussion amongst WWG members about ways municipalities that are far outside the FPA, such as in southern and eastern Alberta, can become more engaged in FireSmart practices.
- Sherry Norton spoke to the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) programs that are available. Of significant interest to the WWG is FRIAA’s community fire guard program, which provides grant funding to municipalities to build fire breaks to protect their communities.
Response
Mutual Aid
- Capacity of both unified command and joint response approaches to wildfire response were explored.
- There was discussion of the benefits of neighbouring municipalities training together to build relationships.
- In fires that jump the FPA boundary, there is a need to engage firefighting partners on both sides of the boundary before the fire can shift across it.
Communication
- Radio communication across channels in remote regions identified as a consistent challenge during wildfire response.
- Different radio technologies are applicable in different scenarios, and AEMA has assisted in many cases in bridging the gap.
Next Steps
- The next WWG meeting will feature a focused discussion on recovery and identify areas of improvement. Additionally, this meeting will see the previous discussions on preparedness and response lead towards the presentation of draft recommendations for the WWG to consider.
Warren Noga
Policy Advisor
825.319.2285
warren@RMAlberta.com
Wyatt Skovron
General Manager of Policy & Advocacy
780.955.4096
wyatt@RMAlberta.com