Athabasca County Fire Services consists of seven volunteer departments as well as services provided through partnerships with The Village of Boyle and Town of Athabasca volunteer fire departments. In addition, The County maintains mutual aid agreements with surrounding municipalities. Different departments in The County provide different services including fire suppression, road rescue, wildland urban interface response, and limited wildland suppression capabilities.
Athabasca County Fire Services is managed by the Regional Fire Chief who provides training, leadership, procurement, investigation and other forms of support to departments within The County.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1 to be connected with police, fire, or ambulance services. Please take note of your location if you are calling via mobile device as dispatch will not be able to pinpoint where you are. False alarms are becoming a problem for Emergency Services everywhere because they take valuable resources away from actual emergencies, click here to find out what you can do to help minimize them.
Fire Departments
ATHABASCA FIRE RESCUE
Located within the Town of Athabasca: 4707 50 St. Athabasca, AB.
Provides fire and rescue services to the town and surrounding County area.
Fire Chief: Travis Shalapay
BAPTISTE LAKE FIRE
Hall 1 – located in the Summer Village of West Baptiste SE 33-66-24.
Hall 2 – located Baptiste Lake Emergency Service Zone (TWP Road 674 and Hwy 2).
Provides fire protection to the Summer Villages of Baptiste and Island Lake and Division 9 of Athabasca County within the Baptiste Lake Emergency Service Zone.
Fire Chief: Robert Laackmann
BOYLE FIRE RESCUE
Located in the Village of Boyle: 5122 2 St. Boyle, AB.
Provides fire and rescue services to the village and surrounding area of Division 3 and road rescue service on Highway #63, 831, 663.
Fire Chief: Darren Hill
CASLAN FIRE RESCUE
Located in the Hamlet of Caslan SE 21-65-17.
Provides fire and rescue services to the hamlet and the east half of Division 3 of the County and road rescue service on Hwy #663 and Hwy #855.
Fire Chief: Jim Henson
COLINTON FIRE RESCUE
Located in the Hamlet of Colinton SW 15-65-22.
Provides fire and rescue services to the hamlet and parts of Division 1, 2, and 3 in the County and road rescue service on Highway #2.
Fire Chief: Bruce Bretzlaff
GRASSLAND FIRE RESCUE
Located in the Hamlet of Grassland SW 28-67-18.
Provides fire and rescue services to the hamlet and parts of Division 6 and 7 in the County and road rescue service on Hwy #63 & Hwy #55.
Fire Chief: Travais Johnson
RICHMOND PARK FIRE
Located within Athabasca County NE 24-68-22.
Provides fire protection to Division 9 in the County.
Fire Chief: Mike Krawec
ROCHESTER FIRE
Located in the Hamlet of Rochester SE 24-62-24.
Provides fire and rescue services to the hamlet and Division 1 in the County.
Fire Chief: Darren Siemens
WANDERING RIVER FIRE
Located in the Hamlet of Wandering River NE 36-71-17.
Provides fire protection to the hamlet and Division 6 in the County.
Fire Chief: Maureen Kirby
Want to be a firefighter?
Volunteer firefighters are an important part of the community, as well as providing an important service, they attend community events to promote fire prevention and safety. Volunteers are on call (according to availability) and arrive at their fire hall before leaving to respond to emergencies.
Training covers a wide variety of subjects, including first aid, equipment maintenance, and structural firefighting. Athabasca County also maintains a fire training centre at the Athabasca Regional Airport where members train to respond to structure fires in an environment that can be adapted to a wide variety of scenarios. If you’re up to the challenge, start by completing and submitting the application below.
Regional Emergency Response Plan
Athabasca County’s Regional Emergency Response Plan engages all community stakeholders, from the Town of Athabasca, Village of Boyle, the summer villages, emergency services, local industries, and government agencies. The plan was developed in consultation with Emergency Response Management Consulting and is an “all hazards” approach.
The Emergency Planning Committee manages and maintains the plan to keep pace with changes in the region.
View the Emergency Response Plan.
Wildfire Prevention
Athabasca County works closely with Alberta Forestry’s Wildfire Management Department to manage and mitigate wildfire risks. We use the strategies below to help manage wildfire risks in The County:
- Mutual aid agreements with neighbouring municipalities, the province, and industrial fire departments.
- Including wildfire management in our Regional Emergency Response Plan.
- Ensuring our fire permit program complies with the provincial Fire Permit Guidelines Manual. This means that residents and businesses must obtain permission from County officials before any controlled burning is allowed.
- Maintaining a FireSmart program to educate residents about the risks of Wildfires and how to prevent them.
- Ensuring that senior members of County fire departments complete provincially endorsed coursework in wildfire management.
- Using a ground infrared scanning system for the detection and response to hold-over winter burning.
To check out more about FireSmart, check out their website and Facebook page, or visit them on Twitter @FireSmart Canada. To learn about world class wildfire research going on in Alberta, check out FP Innovations. Click on the image below to learn more about Alberta’s wildfire prevention and management initiatives. You can also check them out on Twitter @AlbertaWildfire and on Facebook.
You can also check our Safe Burning information page if you have a planned burn scheduled.
Regional Fire Training Centre
Athabasca County’s Regional Fire Training Centre gives firefighters in the region an opportunity to hone their skills in a controlled environment. The facility was built in 2015 at the Athabasca Regional Airport and enables training with building searches, ventilation, and interior attack. The two-story, modular structure is unique because the interior walls and doors can be easily moved into a variety of configurations allowing instructors to provide new challenges to members as they train.
False Alarms
Silencing the panel is not enough!
False alarms are not only a drain on resources and personnel but they can take personnel away from a real emergency.
Security and Fire alarm systems are becoming a more popular item for homeowners to protect their homes, businesses, and belongings. When used correctly these systems are a valuable tool for protecting your property.
Remember that Police, Fire and EMS must treat all alarm calls as a genuine emergency until proven otherwise. False alarms are not only a drain on resources and personnel but they also may take personnel away from real emergencies.
Should your alarm system go off when there is no emergency, remember that turning off or silencing the system at the control panel only stops the alarm from going off at your property. A chain of events has already been set in motion.
Police, fire, or ambulance have been notified and may already be on their way to your location. Any time an emergency response vehicle is travelling with lights and sirens there is an element of risk to the responders and the public.
In most cases, after silencing the alarm panel, you must call your alarm company to advise them that you have had a false alarm. The alarm company will then contact first responders through appropriate channels to advise them of the false alarm.
By doing your part to reduce false alarm calls you are helping reduce the burden on our first responders.
Fire Services Statistics
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