After what many are calling an unprecedented wildfire season last year, a welcome donation came to the County of Grande Prairie Fire Service from the GlobalMedic and GlobalFire charity service.
The Toronto-based charity responded to the call from numerous communities that were affected by last year’s wildfires by distributing 60 fire skids to communities in need.
According to the county, three new fire skids will be utilized by the fire service during the upcoming wildfire season to assist crews in their efforts to keep communities safe during the summer months.
GlobalFire says each skid includes a water tank, pump, and hose to mount on the back of a pickup truck to open up more opportunities to extinguish flames in hard-to-reach areas before they burn out of control.
“Last year we were faced with extraordinary challenges during our wildfire season, and having these pieces of equipment will greatly enable our department’s increased capability to combat these fires in the coming seasons,” a county fire official says. “We’ll be using those in the coming weeks and months and they couldn’t have come at a better time,” another says.
According to the Government of Alberta, nine wildfires have been reported in the Grande Prairie Forest Area since January 1st of this year, with an additional five carryover fires from the 2023 wildfire season; however, the province says all carryover fires are listed as “under control” and are actively being monitored by firefighters.
