Manitoba won’t send firefighting resources to Alberta

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This article was published 04/05/2016 (3776 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dry conditions in Manitoba mean the province is unable to send wildfire-fighting resources to Alberta.

Gary Friesen, manager of the province’s wildfire program, said the province is seeing new wildfires spring up every day due to the recent lack of rainfall, low humidity and high temperatures.

“It is dry and it continues to dry, our situation is nowhere near as critical as western Canada, but we are drying and we are drying more every day,” Friesen said Wednesday.

“We only have enough resources to work in Manitoba.”

Wildfires forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray, Alta., starting Tuesday. The wildfires have engulfed homes in three subdivisions and are in danger of spreading. By Wednesday afternoon, the fire was out control and had destroyed at least 1,600 structures.

The news conference was a first for Infrastructure Minister Blaine Pedersen, who was appointed to the cabinet role Tuesday. Pedersen let Friesen do most of the talking, but began the news conference by thanking those working on the front lines of Fort McMurray, in northeastern Alberta.

“The images, like those on television and social media in the last 24 hours, are incredibly jarring,” Pedersen said.

Friesen called the wildfires “historic.” In Manitoba, he noted, there is a complex monitoring system of ground water levels in place to tell his team when and where resources are need.

“It has evolved to a very scientific metholodogy that involves collecting and taking the element of surprise, not completely out of it, but it definitely helps to soften that,” Friesen said.

So far, there have been 28 wildfires this year in Manitoba, with two new ones reported Tuesday in Nelson House and near Pine Falls. The average number for this time of year is 60.

Friesen noted wildfire agencies work in partnership with the Canadian Interagency Fire Fighter Centre, which co-ordinates the sharing of resources throughout the country. Friesen said if Manitoba gets rain, and the dry conditions abate, the province could loan equipment to Alberta.

“We have enough wildfire activity at the time to completely engage our resources,” Friesen said, adding they also rely on seasonal workers, which affects resources.