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Alberta reports lack of planning, clarity in Slave Lake fires

May 18, 2012, Edmonton – A report into last spring's Slave Lake disaster says people weren't warned about safety risks or evacuation plans in the days before fires wiped out one-third of the northern Alberta town.

An independent review also says the government's advisories didn't include details about the behaviour of the wildfires in wind-whipped conditions.

"The messages prior to May 14 related to the wildfire hazard and fire permit management, but did not include information about potential greater risks (e.g., personal health and safety) or evacuation plans," says the report.

Such information could have helped local authorities and the public make informed decisions, it says.

Bill Sweeney, a retired RCMP supervisor, headed the review which also says there were communication troubles within the department responsible and other organizations.

"Communication within Sustainable Resource Development and among responding agencies, at times, lacked planning and clarity," says the report released Friday.

It adds there were "limiting circumstances" such as overloaded radio systems, power outages and loss of cellphone coverage. It also acknowledges a lot of communication during the peak of the fires was through social networking such as Facebook and Twitter.

Some residents complained after the fires that they weren't given enough warning and were forced to turn back into the inferno when they tried to leave town because roads had been closed.

The blazes destroyed more than 500 homes and buildings in Slave Lake and forced thousands of people from their homes at an estimated cost of almost $1 billion.

The report offers 21 recommendations to reduce threats to communities and to improve the province's capacity to fight wildfires once they occur.

One suggestion is that the government include information on potential fire behaviour and threats in its advisories.

"Fire Weather Advisories should be more comprehensive in terms of distribution to staff, stakeholders and the public, and more interpretive in terms of implications," says the report.

"Fire Weather Advisories are a relatively rare event, which makes it even more important that their meaning is easily understood. Stakeholders and the public need to understand that wildfires can start more easily in certain conditions and, if they do start, can spread very quickly."

Another recommendation is for higher standards and training for employees responsible for liaison and communications before, during and after a wildfire.

There's also a call for a review of Sustainable Resource Development's dispatch and resource-tracking systems.

Diana McQueen, environment and sustainable resources minister, promised a "timely and thorough" response to all the report's recommendations. She said the government has already made substantial changes to the way it prepares for and prevents forest fires.

The recommendations are grouped into seven categories: wildfire prevention; preparedness and capacity; communications; organization and incident management; post-wildfire business resumption; policy and legislation and research and development.