Parkland County named provincial leader in wildfire prevention

April 2, 2025, Parkland County, Alta. — Parkland County is now one of the leading Alberta communities in wildfire prevention, with the number of Advanced FireSmart Home Assessments completed by the Parkland County Fire Services team increased by 127 per cent in 2024 over the previous year.

“Residents are proud to show their neighbours that they have contributed to a safer community, and fellow Fire Departments are recognizing how useful these tools are,” said Kyle Sherman, Parkland County FireSmart coordinator, in a press statement. “Parkland County is leading the charge in Alberta to raise awareness of best practices in fire mitigation at the community level.”

The county drove the increase in resident Advanced FireSmart Home Assessments with a “Wildfire is Coming” awareness campaign, which is now being adopted by municipalities elsewhere in the province.

For each FireSmart visit, a trained assessor completes a brief tour of the property to identify areas of risk and design a simple plan that residents can put into action to reduce the impact of an approaching wildfire.

The campaign also included lawn signs displayed for completed assessments to show a property is FireSmart and encourage neighbours to take part and protect their homes and community.

“After the devastation of the Tomahawk and RR70 fires, our residents have really taken action to implement the principles laid out in the FireSmart program to protect their homes and communities from the threat of an approaching wildfire. I’m proud of the efforts our Fire Services team has put into educating residents on the value of being FireSmart and look forward to seeing the program being adopted even further across the County,” said Mayor Allan Gamble in a media release.