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www.reddeeradvocate.com
Textbook response FORT MCMURRAY’S APPROACH TO THE WILDFIRE CRISIS WILL INFORM EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING FOR DECADES TO COME
BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF
Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS
For those on the sharp end of disaster planning, Fort McMurray’s response has been textbook. Red Deer’s Fire Chief Brian Makey spent almost 30 years in Fort McMurray. He helped write the disaster plans that have been put to the biggest test in Alberta history. As Makey followed from afar, he saw the plan unfold just as it been written. “As I was watching it they were going A, B, C, D. Even in times of pure chaos, they were still doing that plan and following it. “That takes a lot of courage to stick to that, and a lot of fortitude because you’re thinking of your families in that situation, your families are evacuating. BRIAN MAKEY “In that overwhelming situation (emergency responders) remained calm and good leaders. They did a fabulous job given the circumstances.” Officials began evacuations and never made the mistake of under-estimating the danger, even when it appeared to have lessened in the earliest phases of the fire. “You’re better to make that decision in a very cautious, proactive and planned-out way than just sitting to see what happens.” The Fort McMurray evacuation has been remarkable in its orderliness, especially given the community’s unique challenges. There is only one road in
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File photo by ADVOCATE staff
LEFT: Crews work at the site of an anhydrous ammonia tank car that derailed and leaked its contents uder the 67th Street overpass just south of the CP Rail yards in Red Deer on Feb. 2, 2001. Central Alberta’s geography means Red Deer won’t face the same kind of natural disaster as Fort McMurray. But, while the type of disaster might differ, the scale is not unimaginable. and out, and many subdivisions are reachable by only a single entrance. Yet, around 90,000 people evacuated without injury, let alone fatality. While the power of uncontrolled fire can’t be under-estimated, neither can the human spirit in times of trial.
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ABOVE: RCMP look on as evacuees leave during convoy operations in Fort McMurray, Alberta on Friday.
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“In my past experience, I have seen people do incredible things and with human nature, how people can suppress those fears and panic is just mind boggling. “That showed in this one.”
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