This release was issued under a previous government.

Government is providing $307,000 to cover emergency response costs and wages for volunteer firefighters for the County and three other fire departments.

Last year’s fire was west of Range Road 170, and was fueled by strong winds and dry conditions. Through the Municipal Wildfire Assistance Program (MWAP), the government cost-shares wildfire fighting costs up to 75 per cent with municipalities that have implemented fire prevention initiatives.

The MWAP is a provincewide program developed by Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development and the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

The program is intended to help reduce both the risk and loss associated with wildfires and is designed to assist municipalities with extraordinary costs for the suppression of wildfires when they occur.