Island Forest Firefighters Off to Alberta

Two of our Island forest fighters leave today to assist with the serious wildfires in western Canada, said Minister of Communities, Land and Environment Robert Mitchell.

“Canadian provinces have joint agreements to share human resources and equipment to help with forest fire emergencies,” said Minister Mitchell. “Last year, we sent two fire fighters to help with fires in the central British Columbia region and the knowledge and experience they gained will be invaluable to Prince Edward Island if we were to experience future serious fires in our region.”

The two firefighters will travel to Alberta to work with a firefighting team from Nova Scotia to relieve exhausted local crews who have been battling fires since April.

The winter of 2014-15 was very dry and warm in western Canada and many areas have also been devastated by the ongoing Mountain Pine beetle outbreak. This insect has killed thousands of square kilometers of lodge pole pine forest, creating a huge and potentially deadly fuel source.