Wildfire season is coming — is Thunder Bay ready?
Despite warm winter weather, experts say its difficult to predict what this summer will look like
The snow hasn't even melted, but wildfires are already on the minds of Thunder Bay's members of council, and city administration.
David Paxton, the city's acting fire chief, said Thunder Bay has already had some discussions with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry about the upcoming wildfire season, which officially begins April 1.
"They're expected to be, I think, ramping up their preparedness a little bit earlier this year," he said. "I know their normal callback is usually very early in April, they start to ramp up their crews and prepare."
"We were actually talking to them last week about some preventative prescribed burns, possibly along some railroad tracks and other areas of concern, but they're paying attention to the weather and snow melt."
The matter was the subject of a deputation by Thunder Bay resident Malcolm Squires at Monday night's council meeting.
"I am a resident of Thunder Bay and living on the north side of the city, not far from the forest," Squires said in an interview with CBC News on Tuesday. "There are trees immediately to the west of me, and I'm quite familiar with what's happened in Fort McMurray in 2016 and the cities across Canada in the past summer."
"And I suspect we could be just as vulnerable," he said. "I'm concerned about my personal safety and my property."
Squires had a few requests for council during his deputation: that the city put together a group to discuss options should a worst-case scenario happen, such as how to organize an evacuation, and review its emergency preparedness and make any needed changes.
His request-to-speak form also states he'd like to see Thunder Bay collaborate with surrounding municipalities and emergency preparedness organizations, and advise property owners how they can prepare for a potential fire-related emergency.
Paxton said there is a plan in place should such a situation come about.
"That plan, if we ever got to that point, would be a scaled plan," he said. "As things progressed and we watched the happenings around the community, and as things got potentially worse in the event that there was a fire approaching the community, decisions would be made early on to move the most vulnerable."
"That's just typical on any evacuation," he said, adding "you would have to consider what direction any fire was coming, what prevailing winds are. You have to consider where you're going, where the people are heading. What means of transportation do we have? Is there a place of refuge that we can take inside the city?"
Coun. Andrew Foulds, who chairs the city's EarthCare committee, said wildfires are "100 per cent on my mind" for him as the fire season approaches.
"I don't think I have ever experienced a winter like we've had with the real lack of precipitation," Foulds said. "Who knows what the spring will hold for the northwest in terms of precipitation, but given the events that have been happening across the country in various provinces, and internationally with the devastation of fires, it certainly is on my mind."
Foulds said the city has a municipal emergencies group, which includes representatives of a number of sectors, and regularly meets to discuss preparations, and run through exercises.
"There's learning that's always taking place," Foulds said. "I think it is critical that we spend the time and the effort in being prepared."
"It is impossible, I think, to game out every single aspect of a crisis, but I do think you can game out a lot, and I think that that's important that we do."
Foulds said, however, it's not just potential wildfires that are of concern.
"In the springtime we may get an ice storm, for example," he said. "You just simply don't know what the intense weather event is going to be. I do know, and I was very pleased to hear [Monday] night, that there is an emphasis on communications in particular with seniors and vulnerable populations, because not every demographic has access to a vehicle [or] a communication device, and doesn't necessarily have the means to evacuate, for example."
"I really was given some confidence on that emphasis on making sure that citizens, in particular seniors and vulnerable populations, are addressed almost immediately in a crisis situation."
But, Foulds said he'd like to see the city do more to communicate with the public when it comes to emergency preparedness.
"There were a number of members of council, including [Mayor Ken Boshcoff] and Councillor [Shelby] Ch'ng that suggested that perhaps we do need an update to council about the status of, in particular, some of the emergency practice runs that we're doing," Foulds said. "That would serve a purpose to communicate with the public that we are doing things."
"I'm hopeful that we do see that because I think it's important for council to understand exactly what the municipality and the stakeholders are doing, and I think it's important for citizens to also get that information."
Squires said he felt council was taking the issue seriously during his deputation.
"There was very active discussion between counselors and the [acting] fire chief, who was present, and I was quite pleased with the responses," he said. "I feel quite confident that action is going to be taken."