Fort McMurray prepares for the next wildfire by strengthening its defences

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo plans to make firebreaks a permanent part of its defense against wildfires.

During last spring's Horse River wildfire, crews created 502 hectares of firebreaks around the city of Fort McMurray.

The fire in May 2016 forced more than 90,000 people from their homes in and around Alberta's oilsands city.

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As the fire closed in, bulldozers cleared firebreaks between the forest and urban neighbourhoods, hoping open spaces would impede the spread of the flames.

More than a year later, those open spaces have become eroded and overgrown with weeds.

Dennis Warr, the rebuild supervisor on the Wood Buffalo Recovery Task force, said the plan is to clear a 30-metre-wide area of vegetation and remaining trees away from homes to replace them grass and walking and bike trails.

"This is what we do to try to eliminate the fire getting into our property," Warr said. "The intent is to mitigate the risk."

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University of Alberta professor Mike Flannigan said firebreaks will significantly reduce the risk of another wildfire devastating the city. But firebreaks alone won't prevent another disaster.

Flannigan, director of the Western Partnership for Wildland Fire Science, said there is no way to eliminate the risk of fires in the boreal forest.

Creating firebreaks and removing dead trees that fuel fires gives provincial and municipal crews a fighting chance to prevent the spread of wildfires.

"We have to accept that fire is part of the boreal landscape, and we have to learn to live with fire," Flannigan said. "There's lots of things we can do minimize the impact, reduce the risk. But we cannot eliminate the risk."

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