On May 4, 2023, Red Deer County personnel responded to a request for assistance from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency to assist with incident management on the Buck Creek Wildfire in Drayton Valley and Brazeau County. In addition to providing support to the Buck Creek Wildfire, Red Deer County has also sent frontline fire personnel to Yellowhead County in the Wildwood area.

Red Deer County personnel are members of the Central Region All-Hazards Incident Management Team (CRAHIMT) which is a multidisciplinary team of individuals from central Alberta municipalities and agencies who have incident management training for large-scale emergencies. An incident management team comprised of CRAHIMT and South Zone AHIMT members along with Alberta Wildfire personnel is supporting municipal staff from the Town of Drayton Valley and Brazeau County during this difficult time.

Red Deer County also has 12 fire personnel deployed with four pieces of fire apparatus to support wildland urban interface fire suppression efforts: 2 bush trucks, a tactical water tender, and an engine.

“Red Deer County is proud to provide the administration, equipment and leadership to this team, we will continue to support the evolving wildfire situation with our available resources as long as required,” states Dave Dittrick, Assistant County Manager.

Mayor Jim Wood and Council expressed their gratitude and appreciation to the courageous personnel in providing provincial support, “our hearts pour out for everyone who has had to leave their home and businesses; we are extremely thankful to have such high caliber staff that are leaders in the emergency management field and are readily available to respond quickly in these unprecedented times.”

Current deployments do not affect Red Deer County’s fire capacity and key staff members remain in Red Deer County to ensure emergency management and day-to-day needs are met, and service levels are maintained.