Alberta to complete review into Fort McMurray fire response by next summer

By The Canadian Press

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – A review into how the Alberta government responded to the Fort McMurray wildfire is expected to be complete next summer.

May’s fierce and unpredictable fire forced nearly 90,000 people out of the northeastern Alberta city for a month and destroyed 10 per cent of its structures.

The province is looking for a contractor to conduct an independent review into what went well — and what didn’t — during the disaster.

It is to look at support the province provided to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, the evacuation of communities and emergency social services for evacuees.

The province undertook similar reviews after the 2011 Slave Lake wildfire and the 2013 floods in southern Alberta.

A separate review is being done by the province’s Agriculture and Forestry Department into wildfire preparation, readiness and response.

“In the face of the fire’s unprecedented extreme behaviour, our first responders and emergency teams performed with incredible courage and skill, successfully evacuating nearly 90,000 people in just a few hours and saving the vast majority of homes and businesses,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Danielle Larivee.

“It is tremendously important that there is an independent review of the response to this disaster so that the lessons learned will ensure our emergency response system can be even stronger in the future.”

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