Call 310-FIRE (3473) to report a wildfire in a forested area.
Overview
Wildfire suppression includes all activities to control and extinguish a wildfire after it’s detected.
Alberta Wildfire has 2 main objectives in wildfire suppression:
- contain fire spread by 10 am the day after it is detected
- start suppression activity before the fire grows larger than 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in size
Responding to wildfires
The Alberta Wildfire Coordination Centre, located in Edmonton, works with the 10 forest areas in the Forest Protection Area of Alberta to coordinate wildfire response.
The province has access to highly trained wildland firefighters and personnel. The province also leases or contracts resources, including:
- airtankers
- helicopters
- patrol aircraft
- heavy equipment
- incident camps
These and other resources allow crews to get to a wildfire fast and to stay until it is extinguished.
Alberta has cooperative agreements with the other Canadian provinces, as well as with the United States, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. This allows Alberta to import and export resources as needed.
Priority criteria
The priority for the allocation and use of firefighting resources in the Forest Protection Area is based on the following criteria:
- Human life
- Communities
- Watershed and sensitive soils
- Natural resources
- Infrastructure
Air operations
Alberta Wildfire uses a combination of airtankers, helicopters and other air operations to monitor and fight wildfires.
For more information, see the Pilot Handbook.
Safety for drones and firefighting aircraft
Personnel
Personnel includes firefighters, warehouse staff, radio communications staff and other support positions.
Detection
Alberta Wildfire has a mandate to report all fires within 5 minutes of detection to the nearest fire centre.
We have a variety of ways to identify new wildfire starts, such as:
- 310-FIRE public reporting
- aerial patrols with airplanes and helicopters
- fire lookouts
- ground patrols
- cooperation of industries such as oil and gas, forestry and aviation
- scans, sensors and satellites
We use both traditional and new technology to detect wildfires. However, one of the most effective is when members of the public report a wildfire by calling 310-FIRE.
Contact
Wildfire employment
For questions about Alberta Wildfire job positions:
Phone: 780-427-6807
Fax: 780-415-1509
Email: [email protected]