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Firefighters find another way to protect Alberta's forests.
Normally, employment for Alberta 's seasonal firefighters comes to an end near the beginning of September. Some find work in other fields, while others return to school. This year is different. At the beginning of September, over 120 Sustainable Resource Development seasonal firefighters, dispatchers, radio operators and coordinators remained on staff, and those numbers continue to grow. However, these employees won't be fighting wildfires. They'll be fighting the mountain pine beetle outbreak. With the expansion of mountain pine beetle infested trees as far north as Peace River , SRD recognized the need to train more staff to identify and control mountain pine beetle infestations. Who better to train than those already familiar with Alberta 's forests? "Many of these staff were already involved in controlling mountain pine beetles along the eastern slopes of the Rockies this summer," said Morgan Kehr, Wildfire Operations Section Manager. "They will be a vital tool in our continuing effort to control mountain pine beetles in Alberta . They're great workers and we're extremely fortunate so many of them are able to continue working into fall and winter." The job of firefighters is being expanded to include surveying for infested trees and continuing the selective cutting and burning of those trees. Other staff will work on logistics, data entry and radio operations. Training has already started and will continue in the weeks ahead. |
