Newfoundland and Labrador has another weapon in its arsenal to fight forest fires. The Provincial Government has joined the Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Commission, which provides members with access to training, equipment, personnel and aircraft to enhance the ability to protect forests from wildfire.

"Our fire suppression staff do a tremendous job of protecting our people and our natural resources, especially during the annual forest fire season when staff commonly respond to more then 100 forest fires," said the Honourable Kathy Dunderdale, Minister of Natural Resources and Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency. "The Northeastern Forest Fire Protection Commission has a strong history of promoting effective prevention and control of forest fires and the training it offers each year will complement the training already provided here in this province."

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec are also members. Membership better equips the province to deal with some possible impacts related to climate change, which is predicted to increase the fire severity and frequency for Canada�s boreal forest. The cost of membership is $5,000 a year.

"Membership is providing us with additional training opportunities and forest firefighting resources," said Minister Dunderdale. "If we do experience a large forest fire or an extremely busy fire season that requires resources beyond our capabilities, we now have access to the resources and equipment of the commission."

In the event of a major forest fire outside this province, the department also agrees to lend its aircraft, personnel or equipment to commission members once a detailed forest fire risk assessment concludes that the resources are not required at home at the time of the request.

The department�s forest fire suppression staff responded to 176 fires during the 2009 forest fire season. In October, the Provincial Government announced it would spend $120 million US to acquire four new state-of-the-art waterbomber aircraft to improve the department�s aerial firefighting capacity.

The commission was formed in 1947. Newfoundland and Labrador is already a member of Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which includes all provinces and territories and the Government of Canada. This organization serves a similar function as the commission in that it coordinates operational fire control services to its members, such as equipment, personnel and aircraft through the Mutual Aid Resources Sharing Agreement.

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Media contact:

Tracy Barron
Director of Communications
Department of Natural Resources
709-729-5282, 690-8241
tracybarron@gov.nl.ca