By: Tanya Borthwick
Events like the Fort McMurray wildfire remind everyone about the importance of being prepared for major emergency events like a wildfire or mass evacuation.
Wildfire season typically occurs during the period from May to September in Canada. If you have operations in areas where fires can spread, you need to make sure you have a preparedness plan in place before an event instead of trying to figure it out when disaster strikes.
In the first quarter of each year, you should review your wildfire plan to identify possible safety issues and update the plan with current information. Watch trends and obtain/monitor weather information in the surrounding area on days when fire danger is high or extreme.
Look at the infrastructure on your site and what needs to be protected and where people are likely to be located. Evaluate the surrounding forest and routes which are likely to burn faster and where there are potential water sources. Account for times where there may be additional contractors onsite, such as turnaround activities or maintenance shutdowns.
You should pre-determine your evacuation route and alternate routes. Identify where you want to evacuate to, which highways should be used, locate potential rest stops, and potential reception centres.
Establish and maintain a wildfire monitoring process to identify potential wildfires that may impact your operations. Watch weather patterns and download available monitoring apps such as Alberta Wildfire, BC Wildfire, FEMA, and set the notifications to provide you with mobile alerts.
Assess the wildfire risk to your operations:
• How quickly a fire can be expected to spread.
• Wind direction and intensity.
• The amount of fuel available for combustion.
• Potential fire intensity – or energy available to be released.
• Difficulty of control for specific fuel types.
During active wildfires, establish and maintain close contact with the regulatory agency responsible for wildfire protection (i.e. Alberta Agriculture and Forests, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Saskatchewan Environment). Establish an industry liaison person and consider deploying them to the Incident Command Centre.
The decision to evacuate will be made by the Incident Commander, in consultation with the regulatory agency. Several factors will be considered when determining the need to evacuate. Decision factors may include:
• Expected path of the wildfire.
• Type and severity of the wildfire.
• Capability to evacuate and expected time duration to complete evacuation.
• Ability to control/contain the wildfire.
• Risk of impacting company operations.
• Contact Department of Transportation to ensure there are no highway/roadway restrictions (i.e., wide load, closures, construction)
• Determine if the number of transportation vehicles (buses) onsite have enough seats to carry all personnel.
• Instruct bus drivers to fill the bus gas tanks and keep them no less than ¾ full at all times.
• Cases of water and non-perishable food items (i.e. granola bars) should be kept on each bus.
• Each bus should have a designated Bus Captain who will be familiar with the evacuation routes, maintain a log of all passengers on the bus, double check the passenger list at all rest stops, and ensure passengers know the bus number before getting off the bus at rest stops.
• Sign-in sheets and pens (extra paper and clip boards)
• Maps
• Satellite phone
• Cases of water
• Non-perishable food items
• First aid kit
• Benadryl
• Flash light and batteries
• Air horn
• Fire extinguisher
• Megaphone
• Shovel
• Axe
• Garbage bags
• Wet naps
• Hand sanitizer
• Phone chargers
Contact Black Gold Emergency Planners for help developing your Wildfire Evacuation Plan and contact us to demonstrate how our smart mobile application (BGGoPlan) can assist with meaningful communication and real time information when you need it most.
