JEmphatically

The cuts by the UCP government have resulted in an exodus of experienced firefighters leaving Alberta to pursue careers in B.C. or with Parks Canada, he says.

“In my 2016 year, our crew only had four rookies out of 20 people,” Moskaluk says. “By the time I left after 2021, the majority of the crew members only had about three seasons of experience. Turnover was rampant across the province.”

#albertaelection23

https://thenarwhal.ca/alberta-wildfire-ucp-cuts/

‘We are a skeleton crew out here’: UCP cuts led to disastrous Alberta wildfire situation

Alberta wildfire fighters place much of the blame for the current situation on the shoulders of the UCP government, which has gutted firefighter programs and failed to retain staff

The Narwhal
May 11, 2023 at 3:31amWeb
Show threadᔖᐣMay 11, 2023
@JEmphatically
my father stood watch at the fire tower in Tomahawk as a young man, it's a park attraction now.
My brother-in-law patrolled out of Robb, he's a private land consultant now.
My brother was initial attack and then Fire Boss out of Grande Prairie, he's an electrician at CNRL.
All gone, they left the forest service in disgust, never to return.
Show threadEllenInEdmonton May 11, 2023
@shaun @JEmphatically
Yesterday, I met a #DraytonVallery evacuee at the Milner Library. She says that there is nowhere that any of them are able to get news right now about what's going on.
Show threadᔖᐣMay 11, 2023
@EllenInEdmonton @JEmphatically
I'm saddened to hear that, the information distribution is terrible.
One issue is the vitriol being poured on local public officials, I don't think it's helping them let people know what's happening.
Show threadEllenInEdmonton May 11, 2023
@shaun @JEmphatically I think it’s clear that the current iteration of our province is terrible at managing a crisis! And municipalities are all struggling because they aren’t receiving needed tax dollars.
Show threadCthulku has movedMay 11, 2023
@EllenInEdmonton @shaun @JEmphatically My partner used to work for the provincial administration, for the ministry of parks and natural resources (or whatever it's called now; it was renamed and restructured seven times in the four years she worked there). By the time she left, it had become so toxic, so underresourced, and so heavily influenced by internal politics, that no real work could be done in her department.
Show threadCthulku has movedMay 11, 2023
@EllenInEdmonton @shaun @JEmphatically Everyone who cared and were competent left, all who remained were cynical, self-serving careerists, and those who couldn't afford any break in employment. It doesn't surprise me that information is hard to get and is poorly messaged, that supports are haphazard, and that infrastructure isn't reliable: the ministry is full of managers and supervisors squabbling over personal fiefdoms, with a tiny group of people trying their hardest to keep anything working.
Show threadᔖᐣMay 12, 2023

@EllenInEdmonton @JEmphatically
From the GoA
"Albertans evacuated due to #ABWildfire can join a nightly telephone town hall for updates to the wildfire situation and answers to their questions.

May 9-14 starting at 7:30 pm

Join by phone: 1-833-380-0691
Listen and ask questions online: alberta.ca/emergency"

Show threadEllenInEdmonton May 12, 2023
@shaun @JEmphatically Good to know. I just had a short conversation with a woman I didn’t know so I can’t pass that info on to her.