Strathmore firefighters deployed to Jasper

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Firefighters from Strathmore had been deployed to join the fight in Jasper to protect and rescue as much of the townsite as possible. 

David Sturgeon, director of emergency management for the Town of Strathmore, explained a request for assistance was received by the Strathmore Fire Department July 24 from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) to deploy resources to Jasper. 

“After getting approval through our CAO, we were able to send two members and a tender, which is basically a water hauling truck that has a pump and firefighting capabilities,” he said. “They have since returned as of July 31 back to the hall, so they spent eight days up there helping extinguish fires throughout the town and once command was happy, they were able to release that asset back to us.”

Sturgeon said the tender which was sent from Strathmore is a shorter unit than many of its kind which were in operation in Jasper, and thus it was able to reach many areas which other larger vehicles were not able to get to.

The Strathmore unit which was deployed reportedly worked largely to extinguish hotspots, leftover structure fires, and smoldering fires within the town. 

“It is entirely possible that we may be requested to go back up there. Obviously, it will be up to the commander through AEMA, but should they request it, we would ensure that our local area is covered and we have enough personnel and apparatus,” said Sturgeon. “If we can spare one for a limited time, then we will do that, so we will go through that process every time we are requested for something.”

One of Strathmore’s Type 6 engines remains deployed east of High Level and has been there since July 9 assisting with their situation. That engine was scheduled to return to Strathmore Aug. 5. 

This year, Sturgeon said 25 members of the Strathmore Fire Department completed the provincial requirement training, called the Wildland Urban Interface Training, who are now certified to be deployed remotely from Strathmore. 

Strathmore also boasts several officers, Sturgeon included, who are able to take on the roles of Taskforce Leaders to be on similar incidents and emergencies. 

“It seems like more and more – obviously because we are outside the forest interface area, so they like to draw from us just because we do not have the highest threat levels,” said Sturgeon. 

Wildfire containment efforts continue within the Jasper region. An evacuation order for Jasper and Jasper National Park remains in effect.