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Canada builds new facility for National Fire Equipment Cache

July 6, 2023, Canada – The federal government is building a new facility for its National Fire Equipment Cache in Banff National Park in Alberta, which will act as a central equipment storage location and augment reserves across the country.

Specialized fire management equipment will be maintained in a state of readiness where it can be deployed to Parks Canada and administered to places across the country or shared with provincial and territorial partners through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. The National Fire Equipment Cache will enhance wildfire preparedness in national parks and surrounding areas and is designed to increase Parks Canada’s overall capacity to respond to wildfires.

Since 2021, the Government of Canada has invested over $65 million in the National Wildfire Management Program at Parks Canada.

This funding has supported wildfire resilience initiatives including:

• Increasing the scope of wildfire risk reduction efforts with a focus on communities located within or adjacent to a national park;
• Increasing the number of fire management specialists and fire fighting crews; and
• Enhancing the government’s capacity to train these highly specialized personnel.

Through this program, Parks Canada aims to increase the safety and security of the public, protecting critical infrastructure, contributing to ecosystem resilience, and reducing or preventing disruptions to economic activity in affected areas and those at risk, reports the government in a press statement.

The initiative is aligned with Canada’s National Adaptation Strategy, which lays out an agreed-upon framework to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters, improve health outcomes, protect nature and biodiversity, build and maintain resilient infrastructure, and support a strong economy and workers.