11:53pm April 14th, 2020 [Facebook]

To help reduce the risk of spring wildfires, Alberta Wildfire is taking a number of steps to help ensure the province can effectively focus resources where they are needed most, as part of our COVID-19 response plan.

Measures include:

+ A fire ban in the Forest Protection Area, provincial parks and protected areas

+ Recreational off-highway vehicle (OHV) ban on Crown land in the Forest Protection Area

+ Fines are being doubled from $300 to $600 for non-compliance with a fire and from $600 to $1,200 for non-compliance with an OHV restriction

+ An additional $5 million investment to hire and train 200 high-quality firefighters to assist with provincial wildfire suppression.

+ $20 million in funding for community FireSmart initiatives, which helps reduce wildfire risks around at-risk communities in Alberta and help mitigate wildfire damages and losses.

Last year, 71 per cent of wildfires were human-caused and entirely preventable.

Learn more: https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=70088C28614F7-F6F7-53A6-BE98E0D906D6556A