Canada preparing more firefighters, technology ahead of wildfire season

The 2023 wildfire season was one for the ages, a record setting number of fires, many of never before seen size and intensity. And with hot, dry conditions This spring, especially in much of Western Canada, the 2024 wildfire season is setting up to be a repeat. It’s likely to be another challenging wildfire season, but federal and provincial governments are applying some lessons learned from 2023. Learning from one another is probably one of the best things that we’ve done last last year and then putting that information to use. First, find more people to fight the fires and to deal with emergencies. Governments are on track to have an additional 1000 wildland firefighters in place this year. On top of that, many municipal firefighters are getting training specifically to fight wildfires, and Ottawa has updated agreements with international partners to get firefighters from other countries into action in Canada more quickly. So our coordination is much better in recognition that evacuations will inevitably be required. Federal and provincial agencies are teaming up with the likes of the Salvation Army to pre position supplies for evacuees in regions most likely to be impacted by fires, and Saint John Ambulance has 10,000 volunteers trained up and ready to help. Governments are also tapping high tech resources. The feds have bought 34 new high performance radars to gather more accurate data and Ottawa is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on high performance computing capacity so that Environment Canada can produce more precise forecasts. And both Canada and the US are sharing the latest in satellite technology. Better detection, better data gathering on the one hand, and better capacity to analyze that data and provide real time information. Even these early season media briefings are new innovations for 2024. Starting today, people can use the new Emergency Ready Planner to help Canadians prevent fires and prepare for any disasters ahead. David Aiken, Global News. Ottawa.