Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Devestating Fire

       On May 16, 2011 Slave Lake, Alberta erupted in a wildfire ,with wind at 100km/h, destroying nearly 40% of the buildings; forcing 7000 residents out of there homes. Many people evacuated to nearby temporary shelters waiting for the smoke to clear in order to see if there houses are burnt or safe and others are homeless; everyone seems to be lost. There were 80 firefighters from Ontario that came and 200 from B.C. There are 100 wildfires and 23 are considered out of control. Premier Ed Stelmach put a fire ban in place across the province on Tuesday.



      This is definitely tragic and in order to prepare for these things we need more sophisticated programs. The firefighters are fine because British Columbia is advanced in forest fires, but the little issue is for more shelters and a proper evacuation plan. These shelters are basically in the town and should be a distance away. I know there isn't much you can do in this situation but from this experience, Alberta can prepare better and have its own specialized firefighting program. The Premier should have put the fire ban a lot earlier even though it wouldn't make much of a difference. The real question is how are they going to prevent more fire from spreading and if it does what kind of professional action plan is set; in these situations you can not do much, but you can make something happen.  

Link and Photo:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/992560--everyone-s-kind-of-lost-alberta-fire-victims-say

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