‘We were not prepared’: Halifax council digs into wildfire response review

HALIFAX, N.S. — Six months to the day after a wildfire sparked and spread across Upper Tanatallon and Hammonds Plains on May 28, Halifax regional councillors dove into an after-action report of lessons learned from the response.

The report comes with 49 recommendations.

“There is still a lot of trauma in the community from this experience,” said Coun. Pam Lovelace (Hammonds Plains – St. Margarets).

After the fire was put out, 151 homes had been destroyed and at least another 50 structures lost.

Bill Moore, executive director of Community Safety, said the municipality’s emergency plan was last reviewed in 2018 and exercises and training were not kept up during COVID. The emergency management office only had two staffers last spring, which is low for a municipality of this size, he said, adding that they already have more staff on board.

“We were well aware (of the risk) but we were not prepared and the report points out that we were under-funded and under-resourced in our emergency management,” said Lovelace, referencing a wildfire risk analysis that had been done several years before.

‘Desperate need’ for crisis communication

One of the big issues that came out of feedback from community residents was inadequate communication during the disaster.

Alert Ready is the national alerting system used primarily by police, and hfxALERT is run by HRM. Messages are delivered by hfxALERT, usually about the winter parking ban, when people sign up for it. About 33,000 people have signed up.

During the wildfire, residents complained that hfxALERT wasn’t used. Moore said it’s designed for mass notification, which is what Alert Ready is for. However, he added, they could have used hfxAlert to get information out to specific residents.

He also said the word “wildfire” didn’t resonate with some newcomers and, while there were translations used at the time, they have realized there needs to be a “deeper program.”

Lovelace pointed out several inaccuracies in the report, and said that it doesn’t have enough on mitigation and preparedness.

“We didn’t have effective crisis communications,” she said.

That’s why she requested a report and recommendations for a disaster readiness evacuation program that would identify gaps (like evacuation route signage and 10-minute evacuation practice plans) and resources needed to expedite safe evacuations in high-risk communities.

“This is really in desperate need,” she said, adding that there are a lot of communities at high risk in HRM.

Council approved Lovelace’s amendment. The Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables, as well as Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, are also working on after-action reviews of the wildfire response.

Fire Chief Ken Stuebing said his department is working on a draft but it’s been an “unprecedented year” of wildfires, flood and storms. He said his hope is to have it on his desk by the end of the year.

An emergency exit for Westwood Hills

Residents of Westwood Hills have been crying out for a second exit to the subdivision for many years, and their calls have only grown louder since the wildfire.

A report on the options to build a second road (egress) out of Westwood Hills landed at regional council Tuesday.

Council voted to move ahead with planning for an emergency-only connection to Highway 103 from the Westwood Hills subdivision. This type of road wouldn’t be used for everyday travel; emergency egress roads are typically gated and used only for evacuations or emergency response. During the state of emergency, HRM crews built emergency access roads to provide additional access to the Stillwater Lake and Highland Park subdivisions.

But that doesn’t go far enough, said Lovelace, the area’s councillor.

“Emergency gated egress is not the only solution because the back of the subdivision still doesn’t have a way out,” she said.

She requested that staff investigate community connector roadways with landowners in adjacent communities, including Highland Park and Upper Hammonds Plains, and look at the Regional Plan or bylaws that would inhibit these routes.

Responsibility for subdivision roads transferred to the former County of Halifax in 1995 and, before that, there was no requirement to build a second exit.

But Coun. Sam Austin (Dartmouth Centre) said he was concerned about more housing developments happening because of connector roads.

“I don’t think we fix this by doubling down and putting more people in harm’s way out in these areas. I think we have to be more deliberate than that.”

Since it was to investigate the issue, council approved Lovelace’s request.

Staff are also working on a region-wide egress study to look at other subdivisions in need of another exit. It should be finished, with a priority list, in 2025.