FireSmart Alberta Established to Address Wildfire Resiliency
In light of the recent changes to the Disaster Recovery Program, AUMA staff have been working to support member’s disaster readiness and mitigation efforts. This includes reaching out to partners who could best support members through these efforts. FireSmart Alberta is one of these partners and we wanted to share the work they are doing to reduce the wildfire risk for communities in Alberta.
In June 2020, FireSmart Alberta was established as a registered arm’s length, not-for-profit organization to foster an all-of-society approach to wildfire resiliency in Alberta. FireSmart Alberta aligns with Recommendation 1 of the Spring 2019 Wildfire Review Final Report: Immediately implement a government-wide, disaster resilience and a prevention-focused task force to enhance the adoption of FireSmart activities and principles across government, at the community level and to incorporate wildfire prevention in community services.
Over the next several months, the provincial FireSmart committee will work through a four-step process that will uncover and clarify both the high-level guiding principles (purpose, vision, mission, values) and strategic direction (goals, priorities and initiatives).
FireSmart Alberta will:
- Increase the capacity of fire departments, Indigenous community partners, and municipalities to tackle the implementation of FireSmart activities by providing tangible, scalable, and sustainable tools.
- Develop a roadmap towards broadening municipal and Indigenous community engagement.
- Work directly with communities to show them how to implement FireSmart in their community.
- Provide community partners with information to assist them in understanding the FireSmart program.
To stay informed of these initiatives, visit www.firesmartalberta.ca and sign up for their newsletter. Also, continue to watch AUMA’s digest for further opportunities to support your community’s disaster readiness and mitigation planning.
