Alberta's Government Gutted Fire Services, Because Conservatism; Now The Bill Comes Due

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On May 4, Alberta’s boreal forest and prairie grasslands were bone-dry: a match box waiting to be struck. Temperatures soared into the high 20s, well above seasonal averages. The relative humidity plunged below 15 per cent, creating what wildfire scientists call “cross-over conditions” and the potential for extreme fire behaviour. Over the next three days, more than 100 wildfires ignited throughout Alberta, including 31 wildfires categorized as “out of control,” and forced the evacuation of nearly 30,000 people.

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“It was the most terrifying day of my life,” they say. The wildfire burned for several hours before it was investigated and battled because firefighting crews were forced to triage on a number of fires that had started simultaneously. In that time, they could do nothing but watch as the fire took off, unable to prevent the devastating spread of yet another out-of-control wildfire — many of which have threatened homes and communities this past week. Their experience was not unique. The teams tasked with preventing and fighting wildfires across Alberta have been overwhelmingly unprepared for this year’s wildfires, a direct result of the United Conservative Party’s (UCP) efforts to dismantle and defund Alberta Wildfire, the province’s wildfire prevention and firefighting response unit.

Since 2019, the UCP government has gutted Albertan firefighters and response teams — and their ability to efficiently respond to and manage wildfires in the province. “Maybe we couldn’t have prevented the starts and rate of spread, but we’re running at a 50 per cent capacity to contain these wildfires,” says a firefighting crew leader who’s currently working on the frontlines of one of the wildfires burning out of control. “We don’t have enough resources, period.”

He says his crew requested air tankers and structural protection crews, but received no support. Across the province, districts were scrambling to designate shoestring resources to multi-fire events. Alberta Wildfire was forced to triage and some wildfires went unmanaged, he says. “You have to be proactive in order to be prepared,” the crew leader says, “And [the government] hasn’t been proactive for the past four years.”

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https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-wildfire-ucp-cuts/