The Alberta government is investing $7 million to create six new Wildland Urban Interface teams to protect communities at risk from wildfires.
Mike Ellis, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services, says one of the new teams will be based in Slave Lake but they may look at more expansions in the future.
“We’ll see what other opportunities are out there. Right now with the total of eight programs, we’re trying to figure out where we can strategically place them in order to deploy them in an efficient and effective matter throughout the province. In regards to preparation and preparedness, Alberta Emergency Management works with the local fire department in the Peace River area. We also make sure that minister Loewen and his department are constantly doing proactive measures.”
The other new teams will be in Hinton, Lac La Biche, Strathmore, Kananaskis and the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council.
This is in addition to the existing teams in High Level and in Clearwater County.
Ellis says its about having a more proactive approach.
“We’re also exploring new technologies. We’ve had a lot of folks, whether it be companies that are involved in satellite technology, to kinda give us a better understanding of the lay of the land and this is something that minister Loewen and my department are looking at exploring on how to try to protect (sic) some of the more vulnerable areas and help the folks on the ground here do some proactive measures.”
We asked a couple of questions to the minister at a press conference, you can check out the video below.
– Kyle Moore, Trending 55 Newsroom
