1 year later, Fort McMurray decides to review municipal response to wildfire
'In hindsight we would have done some things very differently and being able to articulate that is essential'
Fort McMurray municipal leaders are launching a review into the response to last May's wildfire, after maintaining most of the year that it wasn't necessary.
Mayor Melissa Blake says the review will examine the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo's shortfalls.
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"We are starting from the very get-go including the evacuation that we have followed," she told a telephone-only news conference Wednesday. "In hindsight we would have done some things very differently and being able to articulate that is essential."
The province is days away from releasing one report on emergency response to the fire, and weeks away from releasing a second review. But Blake said the community has to focus on what it learned during the crisis, which involved a mass evacuation of Fort McMurray and surrounding communities.
"The only things we had an interest in were not included," she said, alluding to the provincial reviews.
One of the provincial reviews is a large-scale look at the wildfire and the province's response, part of a routine process after major disasters.
A second provincial review, commissioned by Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, looks specifically at wildfire preparation, readiness and response to the fire.
The municipality tendered the contract for its review last week and hopes to award it Friday.