Water restrictions following Edson blaze flag concerns.
The loss of one of Edson’s oldest buildings, without loss of life, on 50th St. could have been much worse if had not been for the prompt actions of first responders.
However, the announcement by the Town of Edson restricting water supplies the next day and citing the fire as a reason caused raised eyebrows and several concerns being communicated by local people as to how fire fighting would cope in a worse situation to prevent a Slave Lake or Fort McMurray disaster?
Concerns and warning are also uppermost in people’s minds right now as the appalling scenes broadcast around the world from the Grenfall Tower fire in London. While an inquiry has yet to kick off it seems that prior and documented concerns and warnings over that fire and ones like it look like they may have gone unheeded.
We put some questions to the Town of Edson and Yellowhead County.“Mutual Aid was called in for the downtown fire incident once the nature and location of the fire was determined. Yellowhead County and Hinton were requested to assist. Some units/ manpower were utilized and others were kept on standby,”said Town of Edson communications coordinator, Steve Bethge.
Addressing the reason behind restricting water supplies the day after the fire, Bethge said,“There was never a‘shortage’of water. Two fire incidents (Town and nearby in the County), as well as the dry spell, simply lowered levels in the reservoirs a bit. Best practice is to have at least 40 per cent storage on hand in the event of a fire. We had never fallen below that level, meaning we still had adequate water, even in the event of further emergencies at that time.
However, the Town felt it would be prudent to top up the reservoirs, and that can happen faster by shutting down nonessential services. That included the spray park, bulk water sales, and the sani-dump. All were only shut down for about two days and levels had returned to near 100 per cent. Also, in the event something did happen to the Town’s water supply, there are mutual aid agreements in place to truck water in quickly.”
Regarding a larger emergency Bethge said,“The Town of Edson has been very proactive in emergency planning. We do have a Municipal Emergency Plan, which is constantly updated and trained for with our staff. Recently, the Town did a joint training session on Emergency Operations Centres with both Yellowhead County and Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. Edson has also worked closely with those two partners on a Community Protection Plan, which deals with wildfire risks within a 10-kilometer radius around Edson. On top of that, Edson continues to be a leader in FireSmart programs to ensure our municipal forested areas are in good shape to help reduce the spread of fire.
As far as water supply goes, the Town continues to monitor current wells and actively seek out new wells to keep our supply levels up and safe. There is money set aside each year for this purpose. Other options are always being reviewed as well, and grant money is looked into for any municipal projects. Substantial funding was gained through grants for our Wastewater Treatment Plant construction to help offset some of that cost.”
We also posed questions to Stefan Felsing, communications coordinator, Yellowhead County.
Q: Units came in from the County and Hinton. Was their attendance operationally requested or volunteered?
A: “The units from Yellowhead County were requested by Edson for operational assistance. The request to Hinton was for a specific piece of equipment that played an important role in this two storey structure fire. Since the time of the Edson main street structure fire, Yellowhead County has taken ownership of a ladder truck (Aerial 12) that can be employed in such a situation if needed.”
Q: Are there any plans/talks about merging Town fire fighting into a county-wide organisation?
A: “Yellowhead County will continue to work with our neighbouring partners under the current mutual aid agreements.”
Q: Water supplies in Edson were affected the next day by just one fire. Are there any
County plans to build water infrastructure, such as reservoirs, wells, drawing water from rivers?
A: “Many provisions are put in place to try to make sure our firefighters have the resources available to them for different types and sizes of incidents, but depending on the size and type of incidents resources can be quickly exhausted. The County has taken several initiatives to assist with this potential issue. That being said, a large-scale incident can potentially put a significant strain on available resources such as a water supply.
1. Over the last year, Yellowhead County has been busy constructing fire-protection water supply reservoirs for several county rural subdivisions and upgrading any existing ones. The reservoirs will enable firefighters to quickly access a nearby water source reducing the time needed to access and refill engines and tankers during a fire.
2. Another initiative is a pilot program: Last October, Yellowhead County Fire Department was assisting the provincial government with new tanker shuttle operation training and certification not currently available in Alberta. Certification will be up to international standards once implemented.
3. A module/pod system that allows rapid transportation of additional resources, including being able to get water to hard to reach and remote places, has been employed by YCFD for several years. The module systems can be loaded onto the back of a customized utilitytruck that includes a vehicle extrication pod, a fuel pod, and a water storage pod. This system allows the vehicle to drop off one of the pods at a location and another module type at a different location that needs a different resource.”
Q: Is there a county emergency plan for a Slave Lake/Fort McMurray event? If so, what is it? Where is it?
A:“Yellowhead County is, as are all municipal organizations under the province’s Emergency Management Act, required to develop a Municipal Emergency Plan that
acts a guide for large emergencies or disasters. Yellowhead County has regular communications and participates in various joint exercises and training for different types of scenarios with our neighbouring municipalities and other organizations such as the Alberta Emergency Management Agency and Alberta Forestry.
The plan covers a range of topics and scenarios; from organizational structure and roles to emergency communications; to evacuation protocols and disaster recovery, as well as rules on declaring a state of local emergency and all the legal and financial implications tied to that.”
We hope readers will find this article informative. Having seen other plans, it is likely that in a major incident that emergency services will be overwhelmed pretty much anywhere. Having a 72-hour kit for one’s family is not a bad idea.