Halifax RCMP say lessons from Upper Tantallon wildfire have helped police in Jasper

The Halifax RCMP say lessons from last year’s wildfire in Upper Tantallon, N.S., have helped Mounties across Canada headed into fire zones.

On Wednesday, Insp. Don Moser presented the RCMP’s after-action report on the wildfire last May to the city’s board of police commissioners. At the time, officers assisted with evacuations and traffic while working alongside Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency personnel and other first responders.

The fire started in Upper Tantallon on May 28 and grew nearly 800 hectares to the surrounding neighbourhoods of Hammonds Plains and Pockwock. Thousands of people were evacuated and more than 200 homes and buildings were lost.

Moser said the smoke and air quality issues officers dealt with made the RCMP realize properly fitted respiratory equipment should be on hand when going into a fire zone. He said that policy was adopted across Canada.

“So when you talk about the backdrop of things like Jasper or those places, they’re all better because of how we responded and adapted to those things here,” Moser said about the ongoing fire that has devastated the national park in Alberta. 

Another strength was the RCMP’s new mobile app that tracks members in real time, so it was clear where officers were, Moser said. That technology came out of recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission after the shootings that began in Portapique four years ago.

Moser said they are also considering backup generators for RCMP stations in case of power outages, and whether Halifax should have its own mobile command post rather than relying on the one shared by RCMP across the province.

Chief Supt. Jeff Christie, officer in charge of Halifax RCMP, said they will also examine whether RCMP victims’ services staff need more training to support people fleeing from disasters because they have different needs than victims of crime.

Another option could be a team set up specifically to support impacted residents, Christie said, or resources pulled from various first-responder agencies.

“What is the right amount of support for evacuations or people impacted with such stress, which may go on for days?” Christie said.

The RCMP report is one of many that have come out of the wildfire, including reviews from the city and the province. Last week the Halifax regional fire service said its resources were overwhelmed, and policies didn’t outline how to handle such an event.