Edmonton – The provincial government has accepted all recommendations made in an external review of the 2011 Lesser Slave Lake fires.
KPMG LLP produced the 237-page report.
There are 19 recommendations made in the report. They include: enhancing the system of supports for emergency planning and preparation by local communities, strengthening the province’s role in quality assurance for emergency management, and improving crisis communication between provincial and local stakeholders.
“Any time there is a significant disaster, it is prudent to do a post-operational review. This report does just that, allowing our province to be more prepared for future disasters,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths in a statement released by the province.
The government requested the “Lessons Learned Report: Building on our Strengths” which aims to learn from the wildfires and improve Alberta’s emergency response system.
“We have accepted all recommendations in the report and are working with other government departments, their partners and stakeholders to address them. Many are already implemented or in process of being implemented,” Griffiths explained.
The fires destroyed one-third of the town of Slave Lake, causing more than $700 million in damage.
The province says it spent a total of $289 million on the disaster.