The government has begun the preliminaries leading up to a call for proposals for that new Atlantic Wildfire Centre in central Newfoundland.

The province announced last month that it was moving ahead with the concept.

The centre, to be established in Gander, will be where forest fire fighting efforts throughout Atlantic Canada will be based. It will include a number of dedicated specialists, greater resources to fight wildfires and the capacity for training and educational programming. That includes a hangar for waterbombers and other aircraft under the Air Services Division.

The province is looking for an advisor to assess what will be needed for such a facility.

The province says additional operational infrastructure will be based in Wabush.