Wildrose leader calls for improved fire prevention in Fort McMurray

Fort McMurray neighbourhoods leveled by wildfire could have been shielded from the inferno by firebreaks, says Wildrose Leader Brian Jean.

Cutting down and thinning old growth boreal forest to create buffer zones between the treeline and residential areas would haveprevented the flames from spreading into the city, Jean said Tuesday during an interview with CBC Edmonton.

"They have huge buffers around the oilsands plants," said Jean, theMLA for FortMcMurray-Conklin. "They're there for a reason. They work. If you get rid of the fuel, the fire will not burn.

"My biggest focus after the evacuees are back home and settled, and feel their government has done everything they possibly can for them is to make sure this never, ever happens again.Whatever it takes."

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Creating buffer zones around high-risk communities was one of 21 recommendations brought forward after Alberta's unprecedented 2011 fire season, whenthe Slave Lake fire destroyed510 homes in that town and caused$700 million in damage.

Jean said those fire-preventionrecommendations need to be taken more seriously by the province, as his hometown begins to rebuild.

"Even my own house that was destroyedwas right next to the forest," Jean said. "It's a block away from the forest, 10feet away from the trees.

"You have to take those precautions to make us safe."

His house in theWaterways neighbourhood was among 2,400 structures destroyed when the wildfire breached city limits, and forced more than 80,000 people to flee for their lives.

The province announced Wednesday thatdisplacedresidents may be allowed to start returning to their homes on June 1, but the staged return will depend on the restoration ofbasic services, and cleaning up the worst hit areas.

Jean said his constituents will not be defeated by a wildfire so powerful and unpredictable it has been called "the beast."

"It's going to be difficult for some people, but I think we need to look at it as an adventure going back," Jean said.

For now, rebuilding the city should take precedent over talking politics, he said.

"As far as what could have been done to avoid this crisis, I think that's something that a lot of eyes, including mine, and my team, are going to be concentrating on in the coming days and months. But the focus right now is 100 per cent on the evacuees."

"At this stage, let's just focus on the evacuees, and make sure this never happens again."