Review says N.S. wildfire response was 'impressive,' but finds staffing, training gaps

An independent review of the fires that destroyed more than 200 homes and burned 25,000 hectares of Nova Scotia forest last year is generally positive about how the province deployed resources, but noted many areas for improvement.

The Nova Scotia government paid Calian, aconsulting and research firm, $45,500 to do an "after-action report" on the wildfires that started on the South Shore at Barrington Lake,and in the Halifax-areacommunity of Upper Tantallon.

The Ontario-basedconsulting firm reviewedmore than 200responses to email surveys. Respondents included agencies, first responders, municipal and provincial governments, including Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff.

The review highlighted a number of strengths in the province's response to the wildfires, including:

• There were no deaths or major injuriesreported, and many homes were spared.
• Organizations involved in the response "demonstrated flexibility and adapted to changes quickly while working in a team environment."
• There was a"level of commitment and individual sacrifice [that] was unparalleled"in the province.
• DNRachieved an "impressive" level of staff mobilization and was "highly organized."

Staffing, training and response plans

Although the review described the overallresponse to the fires aswell co-ordinated, it found gaps in a number of areas, includingtrainingand department response plans.

Among its key findings:

• Roles and responsibilities in a multi-agency response effort "were not always well understood."
• "Some agency/municipal plans are outdated, inflexible, and do not adequately address the growing risks and response requirements of wildfires."
• Provincial air support during the wildfires"was quickly exhaustedand organizations then had to rely on the availability of other agencies for the response."

The review also found staffing levels were inadequate, and some of those involved in responding to the fires lacked training for the jobs they were called on to do.

A third of the people surveyed felt that staffing levels for the Barrington Lake and Upper Tantallon fires were inadequate.

When it came to training, the report noted that about a quarter of the respondents said they "took on new roles"and more than 40 per cent of DNRstaff surveyed said they weren't trained for some of the additional roles they acquired.

About athird ofrespondents also felt they did not have enough equipment such as vehicles orfield maps,the report said.

'Very confident in the staff'

Jim Rudderham, DNR'sdirector of fleet and forest protection, said he's believes the province hasthe resources in place to properly protectagainst wildfires.

"I'm very confident in the staff that we have," he said. "They're well trained, they're well experienced, and they can certainly take others under their wings to help them through those kind of incidents [that]we saw last year."

Report points to possible improvements in provincial wildfire response

5 months ago

Duration 6:14

A third-party review of last year's Barrington Lake and Tantallon wildfires says the province's response was well co-ordinated. The report, commissioned by the province , also called for improvements to training and air support among other items. CBC's Tom Murphy speaks with Jim Rudderham of the Department of Natural Resources about the report.

The department has about 300 trained firefighters to respond to wildfires.

Rudderham defendedputting people in jobs they weren't always trained to do.

"I must remind everyone that that fire was unprecedented," he said."We had a lot of situations that we were put in, as well happened on the fly, that we had to deal with. We didn't have time to sit back and get proper training."

He said the department would offer additionaltraining forstaff inthe coming yearto avoid those situations.

Areport prepared for Halifax council last fall that focused on the Upper Tantallon wildfireraised concerns about a breakdown in communications, whichhad a "detrimental impact" on the initial response.

Thatreport made nearly 50 recommendations coveringareas such as technology, evacuation routes and ways to try to mitigate the threat of a fire.

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