SUNDRE – Recent wildfires including one northeast of Edmonton and another northwest of Sundre arguably underscore the importance of emergency preparedness.
Being ready for a worst-case scenario that results in mandatory evacuations of course requires comprehensive training that helps ensure responders and volunteers are able to act quickly and effectively when the need arises.
Hinton Search and Rescue hosted such an exercise on the weekend of May 3-4 that involved the participation of 16 teams from around the province for a total of 72 volunteers.
Among them were five members of the Sundre Volunteer Search and Rescue Society, including Jon Allan, a team lead who led a group tasked with going door to door.
Working alongside the volunteers from SAR groups were approximately 10 firefighters as well as 13 Town of Hinton staff and seven agencies.
Additionally, there were observers from the Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) monitoring the event, which was sponsored by SAR Alberta.
The scenario involved a wildfire that was encroaching upon Hinton, and organizers set up an actual manned evacuation centre in the local arena and recreation centre.
“Teams of door knockers went around one of the primary residential neighbourhoods in Hinton to advise them of the encroaching fire in the mock exercise,” said Allan.
To avoid inadvertently causing concern, residents had been informed about the mock exercise in advance so that it did not come as a surprise, he said.
“Residents were invited to participate by actually going to the evacuation reception centre in order to role-play what would actually happen in a real scenario,” he said.
Additional teams of SAR volunteers were tasked with making their way along Hinton’s trails to search for tourists, hikers, or people that might be illegally camping, he said.
“Those teams also had to adapt to a changing situation that was thrown at them during the exercise,” he said.
One of the Sundre volunteers was assigned a role in the emergency operations centre, while the rest assisted either as searchers or team leads.
While Hinton SAR has organized mock searches involving hundreds of searchers and multiple agencies, this was their first time hosting a mock disaster response exercise.
And although not an annual exercise, the timing was certainly appropriate, “especially since there has been apparent evidence of a growing risk of wildfires to communities, particularly as witnessed by what happened to Jasper last year,” said Allan.
Sundre SAR has also previously participated in other training scenarios, including a large exercise that took place last spring in Cochrane.
The more recent training in Hinton provided some major learning opportunities, he said.
“SAR Alberta and the AEMA will be taking the knowledge gained to test new techniques and protocols in order to improve and update standard operating procedures in these situations,” he said.
“The goal is to be as efficient as possible when time is of the essence, and exercises like this allow us to game out what could and would happen in order to be the most prepared for when real-life situations occur.”
Given the nature of Sundre’s location in a forested area, he said it’s also important for residents to take steps to ensure they’re prepared.
“The fire that started off … northwest of Sundre is evidence of how closely we could be impacted.”
Some measures people can take include preparing 72-hour go packs stocked with food, water and clothing with a plan on where to go in the event of an evacuation.
“They should have prearranged agreements with friends and family on where they can go if they evacuate.”
People should of course also always closely follow official sources of information, especially from the local municipality, if a state of local emergency is declared, he said.
“In the event of an evacuation, very little time may be provided to get out,” he said.
“People should have a plan already in place on what important documents they will take, like insurance information, as well as medications, plans for pets, and a small number of toys for young kids,” he said.
“Personally, I have already warned my young daughter that she can take two stuffed animals because it’s important for kids to have something to latch onto in the event they must be evacuated since the stuffies will provide a sense of security.”
Sundre might be among the most beautiful areas in Alberta, but “that also brings with it several risks such as fire, flood, tornado, hail, and man-made chemical disasters,” he said.
Visit www.alberta.ca/emergency-preparedness for more emergency preparedness tips including item checklists.
