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The municipal response to last summer’s destructive Long Lake wildfire in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis County was “very good” overall, but communication between agencies and staff burnout are areas for improvement, according to a new report.
Staff with the Municipality of the County of Annapolis presented the report to council this week on the wildfire that grew to nearly 8,500 hectares in size, destroyed 20 homes and forced hundreds of people to flee in the West Dalhousie area in August.
“It gives us an opportunity to take a step back and look at what went well and what we would try and improve on, you know, if we ever had the unfortunate incident of being in that situation again,” Chief Administration Officer Rob Frost, who compiled the report, told CBC News.
The report includes recommendations to collaborate and communicate better with provincial officials, clarify staff roles during emergencies and ensure more people are trained to backfill positions.
Its purpose is to provide a critical analysis of the response from the municipality’s perspective and does not review the actions of the fire departments that battled the blaze.
Frost said Annapolis County was able to rely on the lessons learned from the wildfires in the Barrington and Tantallon areas in 2023 and hopes his municipality’s report could be used to help other jurisdictions in the future.
“We think the response went very well. We had great relationships with our partners [and] with the province,” he said. “But again, like anything, there’s things that we would look to do a little bit differently and improve upon if we’re ever in that situation again.”
Areas for improvement
The report said some staff members worked long days for several weeks without getting any relief during the wildfire — a situation that should be addressed to ensure staff take time off and have access to mental health support.
“That’s really tough,” Frost said. “The incredibly dedicated staff that we have here and their commitment to the community, I mean, they didn’t want to go home.”
The report also said the municipality needs to make sure at least two people are trained for every position in the case of a future emergency.
The report is intended to provide a critical analysis of the response from the municpality’s perspective and does not review the actions of the fire departments that battled the blaze. (Province of Nova Scotia)
Collaboration between municipal and provincial officials also could have been better, the report said.
It said multi-agency approval for communication slowed the release of information, but one senior provincial official disagrees.
“I didn’t see a lag in information getting out,” said Jim Rudderham, director of fleet and forest protection with the Department of Natural Resources.
Rudderham said the department has responded to several wildfires and his priority is to provide the most accurate information at all times. He said all agencies met twice a day for briefings on the latest information available.
“Every time you get into an incident like this, there’s opportunities to learn and make things better. This also, you know, involved agencies and municipalities that have never dealt with this before, at this kind of a level,” he said.
The Annapolis County report recommended the municipality develop a disaster response communications plan.
It also recommended the municipality find a more suitable space to set up the emergency co-ordination centre and work with residents to improve the visibility of civic addresses.
‘Accomplished something huge’
The municipality was successful at mapping the growing wildfire, communicating with the media and residents, and co-ordinating municipal resources, according to the report.
The report said municipal staff showed great teamwork across departments as well as “strong camaraderie and morale.”
After the report was presented to Annapolis County council, Deputy Warden Dustin Enslow said he hopes staff and council focus on the positives.
Enslow said no matter how prepared they were, the response during such a chaotic time wouldn’t have been perfect.
“Overall, I feel like we accomplished something huge,” he said.
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