A pair of Liberal cabinet ministers were in North Vancouver Friday morning to dole out grants to train more firefighters in response to what they are calling “this year's unprecedented wildfire season” while warning of more fires to come through the rest of the summer..Energy and Natural Resources Minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, was joined by Minister of Emergency Preparedness, Harjit Sajjan, to announce $400,000 through the first phase of the ’Fighting and Managing Wildfires in a Changing Climate’ fund, which provides up to $28 million over five years to train 1,000 new ‘community-based’ firefighters in all areas of the country..The announcement comes as wildfires continue to dominate headlines both in Canada and around the world after devastating blazes in Greece, Italy and most recently in Hawaii where more than 56 people have been killed in Lahaina. .Canada typically has a firefighter shortage in summer and relies on outside volunteers in accordance with international agreements. Presently, more than 1,470 firefighters from Mexico, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, South Africa and the United States have been deployed to Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta..A Nanos survey released last week showed about 85% of Canadians in all regions of the country support a national wildfire service and Friday’s announcement seems to be a prelude to building one..In May, Alberta suffered through the worst wildfire season in its history with more than 1.4 million hectares scorched or ten times more than normal. .Specifically, new personnel will trained under the program’s ‘Responding to the Interface’ initiative, to battle blazes in urban areas that butt up against the forest..According to NRCan, more than 10% of Canadians live in these so-called ‘interface areas’, comprising 32 million hectares across the country..Interface fires pose the greatest threats to life and property, and can have devastating impacts even when contained — such as the spreading of thick smoke and evacuations that can cause stress on residents and communities..Although Canada has experienced a record in terms of the number of hectares destroyed, Sajjan admitted at the press conference that the number of ‘interface’ hectares is lower than historical averages, although he couldn’t provide exact numbers. .In a news release NRCan said the pilot project will help to inform best practices and recommendations for future wildland firefighter training in advance of phase two of the training fund set to launch next year.."This wildfire season has been historic, with more intense fires in more parts of Canada than ever before. The first priority of this government is the health and safety of Canadians,” Wilkinson said..Money will also be allocated to the creation of a satellite-based monitoring system to allow fire managers to respond to blazes, in addition to monitoring smoke, air quality and “downstream carbon emission monitoring” when it comes online in 2029..Also on Friday, government officials provided an updated forecast for the remainder of the summer season by warning of continued potential for higher-than-normal fire activity across most of the country. .The prognostication is due to long-range forecasts for warm temperatures and ongoing drought which are affecting parts of all provinces and territories and intensifying in some regions. .During August, the area at risk will stretch from British Columbia through to western Quebec — although Alberta seems to be mostly spared according to the NRCan website tasked with providing up-to-date information..It comes as BC officials issued a heat warning — but not heat dome — for most areas of the province this weekend..On Friday, residents in Inuvik were facing evacuation orders due to wildfire threats in the NWT.
