Spring 2023 fires —Arson

[JohninAB]

I am talking about people who work for forestry and oil and gas companies who have taken the appropriate training and are allowed by their respective employers to help Alberta Forestry fight or be on standby for forest fires when requested.

Not sure what municipal fire departments do.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by JohninAB

I am talking about people who work for forestry and oil and gas companies who have taken the appropriate training and are allowed by their respective employers to help Alberta Forestry fight or be on standby for forest fires when requested.

Not sure what municipal fire departments do.

See what I experienced in BC was the logging companies certifying all their employees not individuals going out and getting certification on their own

It was mandatory training for the company I logged for in BC and mandatory for the company my brother still works for. We had a choice if we wanted to fight wildfire or not when they sparked up but most guys chose to help since we were out of work do to conditions anyway. This was common in northern BC I don’t know if it was province wide

The above is an example of what I have seen applied in BC that would be beneficial here

[Big Grey Wolf]

Sorry, I will not stand down until we start to take these Mega Fires serious, especially our 'Governments in Training'. I cannot believe someone from Drayton Valley can believe we have forest fire fighting under control, 'nothing to see here folks' We just burned almost 5% of our Boreal Forest in one season.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Sorry, I will not stand down until we start to take these Mega Fires serious, especially our 'Governments in Training'. I cannot believe someone from Drayton Valley can believe we have forest fire fighting under control, 'nothing to see here folks' We just burned almost 5% of our Boreal Forest in one season.

I am from Drayton, was evacuated, I have lived in areas that were evacuated in BC, have wildfire fighting experience, evacuated from jobs and really way too much experience choking on smoke

The wind conditions, unseasonably dry weather, high temperatures, combined with multiple fires burning throughout the province needing resources I would say they did a pretty good job. I watched the fires near entwistle take off well at work and could see the one coming towards Drayton after work. The winds that created these fires to take of like this no one was going to control them

What I can tell you from the two seasons I spent working wildfires in BC is man has way less control of them then you seem to realize. Under high winds, high temperatures, and extremely dry conditions there is almost nothing you can do but hope you can slightly direct the fire or slow it a little till Mother Nature plays nice

I worked the shovel lake fire in BC and guys were on that within minutes because it started from a buncher catching fire and the loggers were equipment with tanks, equipment and training. That fire tore through the bush and was basically unstoppable. Really what put it out was snow not man. Feel free to google what that beast burnt. There was no way to stop it and it jumped breaks non stop. My brother was air lifted out twice on that fire once leading to his dozer burning

The environmental conditions last year in Drayton were far worse

What you fail to realize is how little control man has no matter what equipment or man power they have

My recommendation stand down completely till you spend some time fighting a wildfire and you will realize it’s not so simple

Could Alberta improve wildfire response of course but there is always room for improvement. But I have no complaints on how guys dealt with the fire in Drayton and I realize how close it really came to the main town

[dmcbride]

Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf

Guys we have a very serious Fire situation in Alberta. We had over 1000 fires last year, BC had over 2000. However we burnt twice the area of BC with half the fires. Alberta Forestry did not put most of the fires out when they first started. Problem:
1) We have No more Smoke Jumpers.
2) We have No more Manned Forestry Towers.
3) We have No water Bombers contracted.
4) We rent a few Choppers to drop small buckets of water.
We will be okay this year we bought some night googles from Army Surplus store.

So much wrong with this post.

Yes, Smoke jumpers were canceled under Kenney.

Alberta’s forestry towers are still manned, Saskatchewan has unmanned tower’s.

Air Spray has been awarded a ten-year contract for aerial firefighting by the Wildfire Management Branch of the Government of Alberta. It was the NDP who cut the water bomber budget in 2016.

Alberta Is adding nighttime helicopter to wildfire fighting arsenal which experts say is a game changer.

[dmcbride]

Dozens of contractors looking to volunteer in the firefight as Alberta wildfire season kicks off

With the wildfire season in Alberta officially underway, some communities are already preparing for the firefight.

The fire department in Drayton Valley/Brazeau County is hosting information sessions for volunteer contractors, such as construction workers, water haulers and heavy equipment operators, who want to lend a hand if the season becomes difficult.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...ions-1.7123129