'Rainstream' sprinkler system aims to help fight and prevent wildfires

Rain-on-demand tech for wildfire fighting An Alberta-made innovation promises to help crews fight wildfires by creating rain on demand. Jeremy Thompson has the story.

An Alberta-made innovation is promising to make a meaningful difference for fighting wildfires.

A 30-metre-tall sprinkler system is creating “rain on demand,” technology created by a Wildfire Innovations founder Don Hallett.

Edmonton stories Dubbed the “rainstream,” it’s something he’s been spearheading for years.

“I was evacuated from wildfires twice throughout my adult life, I recognized nothing had changed, except that the fires are getting bigger and worse,” Hallett told CTV Edmonton.

The tower and pump mechanism are mounted to a trailer a pickup truck can tow. It takes less than 30 minutes to set up and it can pull water from a hydrant, lake or stream.

The height allows water to fly about 250 metres, depending on the wind. From far away, it almost looks like rain.

“This is so people can come home to their homes if there is a wildfire, or to give them peace of mind that they're safe if these are around,” Hallett said.

He’s adamant that with more wildfires burning in Canada each year, and around the world, his rain sprinkler system is needed more than ever.

“The nice thing about this, it's not just for the fire. It's even before the fire or after the fire … if you could pre-wet things, then basically there's less chance of the fire being started from lightning.”

Enoch Cree Nation hosted a demonstration of the sprinkler system on Thursday. Councillor Shane Peacock plans to recommend the rainstream to his peers so the nation can be an early adopter.

“When you see something like this, you want to get out front, and that's what we're trying to do here in Enoch,” Peacock told CTV News Edmonton.

“We want to help provide and move forward in the right way, to give us all protection.”

There’s only one rainstream in operation so far, located on Enoch Cree Nation. The company said it's ramping up production as it takes six months to build one.