Fire grant nets jobs on Alexander

A provincial grant should spark jobs and quench fires in Alexander next year.

The province announced its second round of FireSmart grants last week. Alexander was one of 24 communities chosen under the $30-million Fire Hazard and Forest Health (FireSmart) program to clear brush and pine-beetle-killed wood that could otherwise fuel forest fires.

Alberta lost about 66,800 hectares of forest this year to fires, notes Duncan MacDonnell of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development — an area a little smaller than Edmonton — and spent about $120 million fighting them. “Money invested in FireSmart saves us even more money down the road,” he says, as it removes material that can burn.

Many FireSmart projects aim to clear trees killed by mountain pine beetle. The beetles kill trees but leave them standing, MacDonald says, creating forests of tall, dry wood. “They’re like standing matchsticks,” he says, and can cause intense fires.

Alexander’s $235,898.50 grant will help clear grass and dead trees from the reserve, says Harvey Burnstick, manager of Alexander Forest Services. “We have a lot of underbrush and wood on our town site,” he says, “and it’s very hard to get in and firefight.” One firefighter died from overexertion last year hauling a heavy hose through the reserve’s brush, he notes.

The band gets about five brush fires a year, Burnstick says, which are fuelled by all the grass and dead trees lying on the ground. Up until now, they haven’t had the money to clear the underbrush.

Many homes on the reserve are built right next to forests, adds Jerry Sunderland, a St. Albert forestry consultant working with Burnstick. “That presents a very high risk in springtime of loss of infrastructure, residences and potentially risk to life.”

The band is now working on evacuation plans for its members, Sunderland says, and identifying risk areas for fires. Workers should begin clearing brush by summer.

The grant should keep about 12 people at work clearing brush for about a year, Burnstick says. “It creates a lot of employment for us.”

It should also make the forests more attractive, he adds, which he hopes will encourage locals to take better care of them. Jasper has a volunteer corps that maintains its forests, he notes, and he was thinking about starting a similar group in Alexander.

All residents should call the band’s fire department before starting any fires outdoors this year, Burnstick says. “It’s going to be dry again this year,” he warns, and local lake levels are very low. “It’s not going to take much to burn.”

Contact Sustainable Resource Development for more on FireSmart. If you see a fire in Alexander, call the band’s fire chief at 780-903-1900.