The Town of Whitecourt is taking another step forward as a provincial leader in wildfire mitigation and prevention.
Administration has requested grant funding from the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) through the FireSmart Non-Vegetation Management Program. If the application is successful, officials say the funding will be used to develop a FireSmart Community Plan that includes hazard and risk assessments, a wildfire mitigation strategy, and a wildfire preparedness guide.
During the council meeting on Monday, March 10, Director of Community Safety Lee Hardman commented on what the FireSmart Community Plan would look like for Whitecourt.
“This plan will take our extensive mitigation work into account which includes FireSmart treatments and the Community Fireguard,” he explains. “This plan will also identify new hazards, expand information on critical infrastructure and the necessary resources to protect them, new treatment area maintenance schedules, new treatment zones and future potential Firegurds and provide essential information for public education, updated legislation and development considerations and wildfire emergency response planning.”
Hardman says the FireSmart Community Plan is an operational document for the Whitecourt Fire Department but a condensed version may be made available to the public at a later date for educational purposes.
Mayor Tom Pickard says the hard work done by Lee and his team has been noticed by FRIAA officials.
“I had an opportunity last Tuesday afternoon to speak with the president of FRIAA. He was very complimentary of you and the work done in Whitecourt and assured me that future requests would be accepted favourably.”
The motion to support administration’s application for grant funding through FRIAA’s Non-Vegetation Management Program was passed unanimously.
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