Headlines News Wildfire Week
Alberta approves plan to protect community from wildfires

Nov. 12, 2012, Edmonton – The Alberta government has approved a plan it hopes will protect the community of Bragg Creek from the kind of extreme wildfires that devastated the town of Slave Lake.

Environment Minister Diana McQueen says the FireSmart plan will create firebreaks on forested Crown land near the community west of Calgary.

Some Bragg Creek and area residents had concerns the firebreaks would interupt hiking trails in the area.

McQueen says the goverment will allow some buffers of trees to separate hiking trails from the areas to be cut.

But she says the government has an obligation to manage the costs taxpayers would face to fight an extreme wildfire in the area.

The May 2011 Slave Lake fires caused an estimated $750 million in damage and another $289 million in government costs.