‘We’ve lost something special’: NDP and Wildfire rappel team react to loss program
Posted November 7, 2019 8:24 am.
Last Updated November 7, 2019 6:09 pm.
EDMONTON (660 NEWS) – An elite group of firefighters trained to rappel into wildfire areas is no more.
The Wildland Firefighter Rappel Program or RAP Attack has more than 60 personnel trained to drop into areas where new wildfires have begun. That program has now been cut by the UCP government.
Members of the program joined Calgary-Mountain View MLA Kathleen Ganley and other NDP members on Thursday to call out the government on this cut.
“Considering that a single thunderstorm can spark a few hundred fires in a single hour, we need more not less resources,” said RAP Attack member Adam Klein.
One of Klein’s colleagues said cuts like this will have a widespread impact.
“We’ve lost something very special with this cut. If you’re a CEO of an oil company or a gas company or a pipeline company. If you’re a CEO of a forestry company or a logging company or you’re a small-town mayor or a councillor, this cut has just made your facilities and your economic interests more precarious.”
NDP Forestry critic Lorne Dach said it doesn’t make sense to eliminate this program.
“It’s a dangerous thing to do. They are the ones who are sent out at the first notification of a fire to try and nip it in the bud and they actually do that to hundreds and hundreds of fires that don’t last more than 24 hours.”
In a statement emailed to 660 NEWS, Forestry Minister Devin Dreeshen said, “The protection of lives and communities will always be our top priority when responding to wildfires. Firefighters are rappelled into locations in less than two per cent of wildfires in Alberta. We are instead prioritizing our Helitack and Firetack crews, which were used far more often.”
“We will work with firefighters to ensure that those wanting to work for us again next summer are placed on Helitack or Unit crews.”
The NDP say they’re not happy with that response.
“When Jason Kenney says these firefighters only work on two per cent of fires, that’s not only a misleading statistic but it significantly underestimates their value. They are an intricate part of our firefighting team,” said Ganley.
Dach said regardless of what the UCP says, jobs are on the line.
“They are family, they are like a bonded group of individuals who risk their lives going into forests, rappel down and put out fires quickly.”
News of the program’s exit has brought outrage on social media. One member tweeted ‘We should be building on our wildfire protection agency, not tearing it apart. This government is prioritizing big business over the health and safety of our communities with a huge corporate tax cut and massive budget cuts to Alberta’s emergency services. Where is the logic in that?’
The UCP is dismantling our wildfire agency in a time when wildfire seasons are becoming more and more intense. Fort McMurray in 2016, British Columbia in 2017 and 2018, High Level, Manning, and Slave Lake in 2019. We should be building on our wildfire protection agency, not 1/2 pic.twitter.com/twfACb1all
— Terry T. ???????????????? (@terry_truchan) November 6, 2019
