Edmonton’s emergency management team ‘battle-hardened’ and ready for 2025 wildfire season

The City of Edmonton can be seen in this undated drone image. (CTV News Edmonton)

The City of Edmonton is ramping up its emergency response to address the needs of a growing city and the growing threat of climate change.

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At an Emergency Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, city council heard how “challenging” 2024 was and how Edmonton’s Emergency Management Program (EMP) plans to mitigate future challenges.

There were 28 major EMP events within a 183-day period last year, including 49 days with multiple activations.

Activations included monitoring crowds of up to 36,000 people for Edmonton Oilers playoff games and Canada Day celebrations, as well as increased encampment responses and provincial requests for help during wildfire evacuations.

“That’s like half a year we’re kind of in emergency mode,” Coun. Karen Tang said. “It’s quite staggering to think about.”

“Yes, it was demanding,” said Edmonton Fire Rescue Services Chief David Lazenby. “But it also makes us battle-hardened … people are practising on a daily basis what we would need to do in the event of the hypothetical situations we’re now talking about.”

City staff said extreme weather – both hot and cold – is expected to pose risks to vulnerable populations and critical infrastructure in 2025, with a report finding the impacts of climate change could cost the city $1 billion per year by the 2050s.

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Caitlin Zerebeski, acting branch manager of city operations, said Edmonton’s River Valley and the surrounding neighbourhoods are more vulnerable to wildfire risks, with fire able to spread rapidly through the mix of vegetation and housing.

A wildfire technician brought on last year will lead efforts to remove deadfall, and Edmonton’s first prescribed burn is planned for local grasslands this spring. There are additional plans to plant more fire-resistant vegetation, and the city’s zoning bylaw team is working on new regulations for increased-risk areas.

“This work will be informed by vegetation hazard assessments and EmberWise, which is a made-in-house artificial intelligence tool that predicts fire risk by blending weather, vegetation fuel data with public safety demand,” Zerebeski said.

A drone program launched in spring 2024 will continue to find and monitor fire hazards in the river valley, improving response times and leading to safer approaches for first responders.

“As you’ve seen, there’s a lot going on in the wildfire space, and I hope that gives you tremendous reassurance,” Lazenby said. “We also need to point out that the public also plays an important role in keeping our city safe.”

Lazenby said a community risk assessment is underway to identify which neighbourhoods may be at increased risks of structure fires, with additional prevention programing to follow.

Homeowners are also being encouraged to help protect their homes from wildfires by following FireSmart principals. A FireSmart public education campaign was soft-launched last year, and Lazenby said it will be formally launched in this one.

“Sadly, I think the events that we’ve seen both in Jasper and L.A. will motivate people, I hope, to participate,” he added. “I’m hoping that that’s a positive that will come from those tragedies.”

More information on community emergency preparedness can be found on the City of Edmonton’s website.