Prevention and disaster management key lessons from Fort McMurray wildfire

FORT MCMURRAY – A report on lessons learned from the Fort McMurray wildfire recommends improved prevention along with better disaster management and evacuation planning.

The KPMG review was commissioned by the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo following the fire in May 2016 that forced about 88,000 people to flee the area in northeastern Alberta.

The report says the municipality did a good job protecting people’s safety and noted that nobody died as a direct result of the wildfire.

But it suggests key emergency leaders should take more training, pass on their knowledge to staff and use a command system to better co-ordinate how a disaster is managed.