The quiet hamlet of Bragg Creek saw some action last Saturday with members from fire service departments in the region taking part in an emergency fire training exercise.
The scenario: a burning wildfire southwest of the hamlet blazed out of control overnight. County fire had contacted their mutual aid partners and set up an emergency operations centre in the Bragg Creek Community Centre to co-ordinate the wildfire containment effort and devise an evacuation plan for West Bragg and the townsite of Redwood Meadows.
“It was a phenomenal weekend … we had great participation from the county and all our surrounding agencies,” said county fire chief and emergency management director Randy Smith.
Around 80 members from fire services in Banff, Cochrane, Crossfield, Rocky View County and Tsuut’ina Nation took part in the simulation of the large-scale emergency.
Funded by a $45,000 provincial grant from the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta, the learning exercise plays into the regional emergency management plan that Smith is working intently on and served as a reminder that standardized emergency service plans and protocol create fluidity in mutual aid partnerships.
Cochrane Fire Chief David Humphrey and administrator Dot Gillis took part in the exercises as scribes, with a couple of Cochrane members taking part in the wildfire containment exercise – which included set up of an irrigation sprinkler system and the delivery of water into drop tanks from a nearby pond and delivered to the site on trucks.
Humphrey said he sees the value in standardized fire service practices for the sake of mutual aid in the event of a catastrophe – not unlike the 2013 flood that devastated Bragg Creek and Redwood Meadows.
He said the practice also served as a reminder that anything can happen at any time.
“A large event can unspool instantly – we sometimes forget we need to practise that stuff as much as our day-to-day stuff,” said Humphrey.
Next on Smith’s checklist is moving forward with the creation of a regional emergency management plan, with the help of provincial funding.
The county is looking for a successful applicant to take on the two-year contract position of emergency management co-ordinator to begin framework on a plan, which would require the participation of mutual aid partners.
Smith said such a plan would afford cost savings and better response efforts for large-scale events.
The county fire chief is also working on the implementation of Fire Smart planning in various areas throughout the region.
