Premier criticizes report that says Alberta hindered efforts to fight Jasper wildfire

CBC

a day ago

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is criticizing a report into last summer's devastating Jasper wildfire that says her government hindered efforts to fight the blaze that destroyed a third of the townsite and sent 25,000 people fleeing.
"It is disheartening to see a report and the media response to that report that so clearly overlooks the substantial, co-ordinated efforts undertaken by the Alberta government during the Jasper wildfire," Smith wrote Friday on social media.
"Alberta's swift deployment of crews, emergency funding and operational support played a critical role in protecting lives and infrastructure, and these contributions are either minimized or ignored entirely."
Smith also called the report and media coverage of it "politically motivated."
WATCH | Through the lens: A week since the start of the Jasper wildfire:
Through the lens: A week since the start of the Jasper wildfire
12 months ago
In the week since Jasper National Park's residents and visitors were ordered to flee as wildfires approached, hours of video footage have emerged chronicling the evacuation, the firefight and the first glimpses of the ravaged town, where about 30 per cent of the structures were destroyed. This compilation brings together videos gathered by our crews or verified by our journalists.
In a joint statement issued later Friday, Smith along with Mike Ellis, Alberta's safety minister, Todd Loewen, Alberta's forestry minister and Jason Nixon, minister of social services, further criticized the report and media reports on those findings.
"The report and the media response not only appear politically motivated, they are also misguided, given their selective framing and failure to acknowledge the tireless work of provincial emergency personnel and leadership," the statement reads.
"Notably, local officials raised no concerns when provincial wildfire firefighting teams arrived rapidly with personnel and equipment, nor when Alberta stepped up to fill gaps in funding, logistics and accommodations."
In the statement, provincial government officials maintain that Alberta Wildfire provided crews, equipment and expertise from the first day of the fire response, assisted in evacuation efforts and worked to save structures all night when the fire breached the townsite.
The province said Alberta's emergency management cabinet committee demonstrated strong leadership throughout the crisis.
"This support reinforced the importance of unified command and interagency co-ordination, something the report itself seems to misunderstand or downplay," Smith said in the joint statement.
"Incident reports help us learn to improve and we hope all jurisdictions take a closer look at their own deficiencies rather than blame others."
The report, released Thursday, was commissioned by the town of Jasper and based on surveys of more than 200 firefighters and others.
It said Smith's government complicated the response by regularly requesting information and by attempting to make decisions despite not being jurisdictionally responsible, given that it's a national park.
It adds government interference disrupted the focus of fire leaders and forced them to spend precious time managing inquiries and issues instead of responding to the fire.
Smith said the report either overlooks or ignores Alberta's contributions, such as providing firefighters, equipment and financial resources.
"The report also fails to seriously address the broader and ongoing issue of forest management practices within national parks, an area of exclusive federal responsibility," Smith wrote on social media.