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By Justine Kelsie

Former Fort McMurray Fire Chief closes out Growing the North Conference

Feb 23, 2018 | 10:43 AM

In May 2016, close to 80,000 people were evacuated from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo due to forest fire and Darby Allen was the head of the operation. 

The Former Fort McMurray Fire Chief was the keynote speaker at the Growing the North Conference Thursday at the Entrec Centre at Evergreen Park, closing out the two-day event. He spoke on successes of getting everyone out of the area safely, how people came together, and how people can be prepared for an emergency situation.

Being near forested areas, Grande Prairie has a similar landscape to Fort McMurray and Allen says it is important for the area to have “what if” scenarios ready to go. 

“For the people who live here, make sure you have a bit of a plan. Make sure you have a container with important things in as in tax papers, passports., and really important family mementos. So, if you ever do get that 30-minute [warning], you can go and grab something and leave.”

That is how much time people were given to get out of the municipality with a portion of the evacuees going north and a majority of them going south. 

Allen attributes timely decisions, safety culture, twinned highways, and actions of people as the reasons that the operation was a success. 

One thing Allen underestimated was pets. His team was able to have 1,300 animals shipped out of the area by the beginning of June. 

“I don’t think I would have done it any differently. Unfortunately, and logistically, we didn’t have the time. I might have been a bit harsh on the phone because I was bit stressed out with some people. They were being a bit vocal with me. I maybe have done that a bit differently. The way we built that plan and got everyone’s pets to them, I am pretty proud of that.”

Although the retired fire chief was called a hero by many, he says there were many unsung heroes of this disastrous event. Allen said there were four men at the water treatment plant that stayed back to make sure firefighters had water to fight the fire. 

Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the Growing the North Conference in the Grande Prairie area. 

 

by Justine Kelsie