Report says 2023 Upper Tantallon wildfire ‘beyond’ Halifax fire service’s capability

The rapid growth of last year’s Upper Tantallon wildfire quickly overwhelmed Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency’s resources, according to a new report.

An analysis conducted by the fire service highlights 56 ways the service can improve in similar situations, including the creation of a major event response plan that would outline the roles and responsibilities for the organization and collaborating agencies.

“[The fire] presented an unprecedented event. It was reported that the standard operating procedures of HRFE did not provide clear guidance for such an incident,” said the report, which is separate from reviews conducted by the municipality and the province.

The Upper Tantallon wildfire was the biggest blaze ever in Halifax Regional Municipality. It consumed more than 900 hectares, forced 16,400 people to evacuate from their homes and destroyed 151 homes.

The report includes a detailed timeline of the fire starting in the afternoon of May 28, 2023. It quickly grew from a three-alarm to a five-alarm wildfire in just over two hours.

Within an hour, the fire service said the blaze had spread from the initial structure to 22 more structures. Nearly 130 buildings were burning in the first four hours.

“The rapid escalation to a five-alarm alert demonstrated the realization that the incident was beyond typical operational contingencies,” the report said. 

Areas for improvement

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency policy requires the service to conduct an in-depth analysis of its responses to structure fires or significant emergencies.

A task force made up of two divisional fire chiefs and the service’s policy and business co-ordinator spent several months reviewing dispatch records, identifying and engaging stakeholders involved in the response, and interpreting all data sources related to the fire.

The work led to dozens of recommendations in 13 areas such as major event response, evacuation, safety, accountability, water supply, public information and telecommunications.

“They were not prepared. They didn’t have the tools and the resources that they needed. They were not communicating appropriately internally, but also to the public,” said Coun. Pam Lovelace. She represents the area affected by the wildfire, but is running for mayor in the upcoming municipal election.

Lovelace said it’s worrying knowing Halifax wasn’t ready for a major emergency last year and still isn’t prepared. 

“I’m very concerned about making sure that firefighters, emergency management operators and everyone at the province and the municipality are working in lock step,” she said.

During the initial effort to evacuate thousands of people from the area, the report said it wasn’t clear who was in charge or what the proper steps were. The process of issuing public alerts was identified as one of the areas needing improvement.

“The public alert for evacuation required several time-consuming steps and levels of approval,” it said. 

Report applauds front-line response

The report said the lessons learned by the analysis should not overshadow the efforts of the people who responded to the wildfire in the initial moments and days after the fire started. 

There were several strengths to the response, including the initial evaluation efforts, which likely saved lives.

“Despite the dangers present, there was no significant injury and no life lost,” the report said.

Lovelace also praised the efforts of those people on the front lines, but said changes need to be made to better protect them in the next major emergency.

“I agree that folks who were doing their job did an exceptional job, but I think that the fact is that we have a lot of gaps that need to be addressed in our emergency management,” she said.