Advancing wildfire risk planning with Swan River First Nation

This past fall, ApexRMS returned to Kinuso, Alberta to continue our partnership with Swan River First Nation (SRFN) on the co-development of a wildfire risk assessment tool tailored to the community’s needs. Building on the outcomes of a previous in-person workshop, this visit marked a significant milestone: presenting a preliminary wildfire probability model and gathering community feedback to guide the next phase of development.

The visit featured a half-day in-person workshop organized by Todd Bailey (SRFN Director of Land and Environment), and co-hosted by ApexRMS team members, Leonardo Frid and Katie Birchard, along with project collaborator, Trevor Weins (Apropos Information Systems Inc.). The session began with a review of key findings from the initial User Needs Assessment workshop, which helped establish the foundation for the tool’s design. This set the stage for interactive breakout discussions, where community members shared their perspectives on how the tool could support decision-making around wildfire preparedness and response.

Following these discussions, the team demonstrated a prototype wildfire probability model developed specifically for the SRFN area that will eventually underlie the software tool. The model highlighted areas surrounding the community that had a higher likelihood of wildfire, particularly around Swan Hills, which had experienced a wildfire last spring. Further breakout sessions invited participants to share how they envisioned using information provided by the model for both long-term planning and emergency response. Community members also provided valuable feedback on the design and user experience of the mobile version of the tool, helping to ensure it remains accessible, intuitive, and relevant for on-the-ground use.

The workshop was followed by a site visit led by Todd Bailey to three forested areas in the Swan Hills region that had been impacted by wildfire earlier in the year. These on-the-ground visits provided an essential opportunity to link model projections with real-world observations and enriched our collective understanding of wildfire impacts on the landscape surrounding the SRFN community.

We’re grateful to the community of Swan River First Nation for their continued collaboration, insight, and leadership. As we incorporate this latest round of feedback, we’re excited to move forward with a tool that reflects SRFN’s priorities and supports proactive wildfire management and community resilience.