Risk management planning helped Fort McMurray evacuation

By Colette Derworiz

The forest fire in Slave Lake in 2011 better prepared the province and industry to respond to the Fort McMurray fire last week, say officials.

“Wood Buffalo has tremendous mutual aid agreements with industry,” said Galea, executive director of policy and training with the Alberta Emergency Management Agency. “This didn’t happen by accident.

“They’ve exercised together, they’ve conducted planning and have agreements to support equipment.”

A total of 88,000 people were able to safely escape — although two people were killed in a traffic collision during the evacuation.

Galea said it’s based on an emergency management framework, which suggests everyone has a role to manage risk.