Preventing Wildfire
Last Review/Updated: June 15, 2004
Forestry Division's wildfire prevention program is based on the 3 Es: Education, Engineering and Enforcement.
Education
Forestry Division has an annual budget for advertisements on television, radio and in newspapers, and for the production of posters and pamphlets. The Wildfire Prevention Branch deals with all aspects of wildfire prevention and is comprised of staff from the Wildfire Management Areas, Provincial Forest Fire Centre (PFFC) and Communications.
Click here to view Wildfire Prevention Information.
Engineering
Forestry Division through the development of Fire Control Plans and cooperative wildfire agreements with municipal districts, counties, communities and industry work together to reduce the risk and severity of wildfires.
Forestry Division also enters into wildfire agreements with National Parks, Indian Reserves, Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC), provinces, federal lands and the United States.
Prescribed fire, fuel modification, landscape planning and hazard reduction burning are some of the methods for lowering the physical potential of wildfire near areas of human habitat and activity.
Enforcement
The third aspect of fire prevention is the application of legislation and law. The Forest Service has the authority to seek a Ministerial Order for a fire ban or forest closure. Most often it will be a campfire ban, the restricting of fires to designated pits within recreation areas. The Forest and Prairie Protection Act contains a number of sections, which allow for the prosecution of serious fire violations and cost recovery for Forestry Division suppression action.
