As Alberta faces evolving challenges posed by natural disasters and large-scale incidents, there is a team standing by ready to take action.
Meet Alberta Task Force 1—an alliance of 57 members from various municipalities that have committed to the Northwest Emergency Resource Agreement.
These members bring diverse backgrounds from municipal government, providing depth and expertise to regional partners in need. How did this collaboration form, you ask?
In 2015, members of the Peace Regional Fire Chiefs Association united with a shared vision to establish an All-Hazard Incident Management Team (AHIMT).
This initiative aimed to provide essential resources and expertise to protect communities during incidents affecting their municipalities, underscoring the need for effective incident management.
Through dedicated training and the commitment of a small group of fire service professionals, a foundation of trained personnel was formed. While this initial team did not fully represent a formal AHIMT, it was capable of filling critical roles during incidents.
At the time, navigating liability, insurance and coverage were proving to be a challenge as there was no mutual aid agreement encompassing all municipalities interested in either receiving or providing assistance from the AHIMT.
So, the group worked together to establish the Northwest Emergency Resource Agreement—a comprehensive mutual aid agreement addressing municipal resource sharing, cost recovery processes, liabilities and more.
Today, this agreement is signed by 36 municipalities extending to the NWT and BC borders all the way south to the Municipality of Jasper and east to Athabasca County and the MD of Opportunity.
For its first activation, the team responded to the Norbord Fire in High Level in 2016. This response highlighted the need for better regional coordination and ongoing training for incident management personnel.
In 2017, the Government of Alberta acknowledged these significant efforts and the critical importance of regional incident management support. As a result, they provided initial grant funding to assist in the development of the Northwest team.
Additionally, The Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) created a training program—now known as AHIMT Block Training—designed to offer hands-on development opportunities for AHIMT members. This training remains a core requirement for member deployment, along with Incident Command System and Position Specific Training.
At the AEMA Summit in 2017, the Northwest region was honoured with the AEMA Achievement Award for Leadership presented by Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Shaye Anderson [pictured].
In 2018, the Government of Alberta awarded additional training grants for the regional AHIMT program.
The success of the Northwest region has served as a model for replication. It led to the establishment of five teams across Alberta—including the Northwest AHIMT, which is now informally known as Alberta Task Force 1.
Since 2018, Alberta Task Force 1 has deployed members to assist municipalities with local and regional incident management exercises and has responded to the following six major incidents:
Chuckegg Creek Wildfire in High Level in 2019
Mackenzie County Floods in Fort Vermilion in 2020
Hines Creek Wind Shear Event in 2022
Basset Complex in the High Level Forest Area in 2023
MD of Peace in 2024
Jasper Complex in 2024
Alberta Task Force 1 stands as a testament to community collaboration, professionalism and preparedness.
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