A $34.6-Million National Wildfire Facility Has Been Built In Banff

A $34.6-million wildfire facility capable of sending firefighting equipment anywhere in Canada has been built in Banff.

Parks Canada announced Sept. 11 that construction of its new National Fire Equipment Cache in the Banff Operations Compound was complete.

The roughly 1,800-square-metre building replaces an older facility and gives Parks Canada significantly more room to store, maintain and deploy wildfire equipment.

Despite its location in Banff, this isn't just a local fire facility. It serves as Parks Canada's national equipment hub, supplying major wildfires in national parks and sending equipment to other agencies when needed.

But if a major wildfire threatened Banff or Lake Louise, the same facility could also provide additional equipment to protect communities and critical infrastructure.

What actually happens here?

Think of the facility as a large warehouse and logistics centre for wildfire equipment.

It stores pumps, thousands of metres of hose, sprinkler systems, chainsaws, hand tools, protective equipment, portable weather stations, emergency communications equipment and supplies needed to support firefighting crews in the field.

When a major wildfire requires more equipment than crews have available locally, staff in Banff can assemble what is needed and prepare it for shipment.

Parks Canada says most requests can be assembled and ready for deployment within 24 hours, although how long the equipment takes to arrive depends on where the fire is and how it is being transported.

For a wildfire closer to home, the facility could provide pumps capable of drawing water from lakes and rivers, hoses and sprinklers to protect buildings, communications equipment and additional firefighting tools.

The new building is about two-thirds larger than the facility it replaces and includes more than 500 square metres of storage space.

It also has workshops and indoor areas where equipment can be maintained and pumps can be tested, along with drive-in bays for larger equipment.

A backup generator can keep the facility operating during a power outage.

Why is a national wildfire hub in Banff?

While the building is new, Banff's role as a national wildfire equipment hub dates back decades.

Parks Canada says its National Fire Equipment Cache has been based in Banff National Park since the 1990s.

The agency says Banff was chosen partly because of its access to major transportation routes, making it possible to move equipment to fires elsewhere in the mountain national parks and across the country.

Banff is also already home to Parks Canada fire-management staff and operations.

“Banff is also home to longstanding Parks Canada fire management operations and extensive wildfire management expertise,” Parks Canada said in a written response to Bow Valley Insider.

That means equipment can be stored, maintained and prepared for deployment alongside many of the people responsible for managing wildfire operations.

Its location also puts the cache close to communities and major infrastructure exposed to wildfire risk in the mountain parks, including Banff, Lake Louise, the Trans-Canada Highway and railway corridors.

Equipment can go anywhere in Canada

The Banff cache isn't limited to fires in national parks.

Parks Canada manages wildfire across roughly 350,000 square kilometres of federal land and says it has dealt with more than 500 wildfires in national parks and national historic sites over the past five years.

During that same period, Parks Canada's fire-management program responded to 50 requests for help outside its own operations, sending personnel or equipment to wildfires in places including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Idaho.

When additional equipment is requested, staff at the Banff facility gather the supplies and arrange to have them transported to the fire.

The cache is particularly important during large incidents when equipment available closer to a fire has already been committed or isn't enough to meet demand.

“For major wildfires in national parks, the new facility improves Parks Canada’s ability to store, maintain, assemble, and mobilize larger volumes of equipment from a single location,” the agency said.

Parks Canada cautioned that the larger facility doesn't necessarily mean firefighters will reach a wildfire faster. Response times still depend on factors including the fire's location, weather and the availability of crews and equipment.

But it gives the agency substantially more equipment capacity when a major fire overwhelms what is available locally.

The federal government says the new Banff facility cost $34.6 million and is expected to serve Parks Canada's national and local operations for roughly 50 years.

The building is fully electric and includes rooftop solar panels and systems designed to manage stormwater and water use.

While its equipment could ultimately be sent thousands of kilometres away, Parks Canada says the same national stockpile would also be available if a major wildfire threatened Banff, Lake Louise or other parts of the mountain national parks.