Members of the Sundre Fire Department performed prescribed burns in town over the weekend, with the help of Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development (ESRD) officials.
It was part of a wildland firefighting course some Sundre firefighters took through ESRD, according to Marty Butts, the Town of Sundre's fire chief.
“I've been trying to clean up some of these hazards around the community for quite some time,” said Butts.
“It's a perfect opportunity because we have the ESRD – which, they are the experts in wildland firefighting – so they are going to help us with the controlled burns.”
They planned to perform the controlled burns along Snake Hill to reduce the fire hazard there, he said.
“We're not going to get everything done in the community that we want to, like for controlled burns. We're going to have to carry that out throughout the year and into next year, as weather permits,” he said.
Kristofer Heemeryck, wildfire prevention officer with ESRD, said the course was held in conjunction with Clearwater Regional Fire Rescue Services.
“It's a great opportunity to work between the government and the local fire departments, as well as getting neighbouring fire departments meeting each other as well,” said Heemeryck.
