- Title:
-
Canada's Future Vision for Interagency Resource Sharing
- Date:
- September 2009
- Organisations
- AFAC 2009 Conference
- Authors:
- Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, Winnepeg, Manitoba, Canada
Overview
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) has over twenty-seven years of experience sharing wildland fire resources among the fourteen Canadian wildland fire agencies. This has been achieved through the Mutual Aid Resource Sharing Agreement (MARS) signed in 1982 by the Ministers of all ten provinces, two territories and two federal government agencies. As wildland fire management changes to address the emerging realities (climate change, demographics, and the current economic downturn), there is a decrease in the ability of any single agency to adequately resource and meet moderate to extreme increases in their wildland fire suppression needs. This has lead to an escalating shortfall among the resources available, an increase in the resources required and a restricted ability to provide mutual aid. This gap must be closed in a cost effective manner in order to provide a fiscally prudent and timely response.The presentation highlights Canada's 2009 wildland fire season as an example of the current resource demands and examines the potential for future demands under various emerging realities. The ability to provide a “Made in Canada” solution is diminishing and a new cost effective business model is required. One source to meet future resource requirements is the commitment to international arrangements and agreements for mutual aid, coupled with equivalent wildland fire training, equivalent standards and a similar command system (ICS). Without our collective international expertise and cooperation to provide mutual aid for wildland fire on a global scale, we all risk escalating fatalities, increasing loss in the wildland urban interface, increasing loss of productive forest lands and increasing suppression costs.
