Thirty one million dollars in 2014-15 and $115 million over three years will be used for fire safety initiatives in Alberta. Over one third of the dollars will be directed towards FireSmart projects, including tree thinning and removal work around communities as well as enhancing emergency response planning, hiring additional firefighters for a longer duration and public education efforts in forested regions. Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, Robin Campbell says learning from disasters is important and the knowledge we gained from the Slave Lake wildfire is being put into practice. Todd Nash, Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta says the FireSmart Program delivers significant benefits to Alberta communities at risk and anything that can be done related to wildfire prevention and mitigation is critical.
