Taking Wildfire Operations To New Heights In Alberta

Apr 29, 2024 - one year ago

Budget 2024 enables Alberta to make use of leading-edge technologies to prevent and respond to wildfires.

Taking Wildfire Operations To New Heights In Alberta — *Drone and helicopter testing being performed by Alberta Wildfire personnel. Photo Credit: Alberta Wildfire.*

As Alberta heads into wildfire season, many areas of the province are experiencing heightened wildfire risk. Alberta’s government continues to prioritize new technologies and tactics that will enhance front-line response and suppression efforts.

Budget 2024 will invest an additional $151 million over the next three years for wildfire preparedness, prevention, response and mitigation. This additional funding will enhance wildland firefighting capacity with increased wildfire resources such as personnel, aircraft, drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and night-vision technology.

“Alberta’s government is well prepared for the 2024 wildfire season,” stated Todd Loewen, Minister of Forestry and Parks. “We have emerging technologies that will enable us to better protect forests and communities while continuing to prioritize proactive measures that build wildfire resilience throughout the province.”

Aerial operations are integral to firefighting efforts and increased funding will enable the province to add two additional long-term helicopter contracts, two new air tanker contracts and additional drones for aerial wildfire surveillance. Budget 2024 also supports the renewal of 130 helicopter contracts, which began April 1st.

“We live in a time where we have access to incredible technologies and last year, we recognized some great successes from various firefighting technology pilot programs,” said Bernie Schmitte, executive director, Alberta Wildfire. “I can say with confidence that the additional night-vision equipped helicopters and drones will make a big difference in our wildfire mitigation and response efforts this year.”

Alberta Wildfire will continue to explore, research and test new developments in wildfire prevention, mitigation, smoke detection and suppression to assess how innovative technologies can support a rapid response and help extinguish wildfires. Wildfire management best practices are always evolving, and Alberta’s government is working to stay ahead of the curve.

For future wildfire seasons, the government is exploring options to potentially expand the province’s air tanker fleet and pilot more emerging firefighting technologies.

Quick facts

Night-vision goggles amplify light 60,000 times and allow helicopter pilots to work overnight and conduct activities like bucketing operations.
Wildfire suppression efforts are more likely to be successful at night, as temperatures are usually lower, humidity is typically higher and wildfires are less active.
Alberta has been successfully using an AI wildfire occurrence prediction system since 2022 to identify areas where wildfires are likely to occur.
Budget 2024 also includes hiring 100 new firefighters, which will result in five additional 20-person crews.

Source: Province of Alberta