OLDS — The town’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA) plans to reach out this year to people who might be interested in joining the system.
Brian Powell, the town's director of emergency management, made that statement during a presentation to town council.
He was responding to a question from Coun. Heather Ryan, who asked how people or businesses could join the system if they had an interest in doing so.
“The goal this year is to reach out to service groups and the larger populations if they have an interest in ICS (the incident command system),” Powell said.
“We’re going to actually target those individuals and see what they have available for us to make this a little bit better document.”
Powell believes there are many people in the community who have relevant talents and experience.
“There’s a lot of nuggets in this community that have a great deal of background in ICS,” he said.
Powell said those interested in joining the organization are encouraged to contact the agency via the Olds Fire Department.
“The door’s always open and our desks are always available,” he said, “whether it be their community or whether it be individuals.”
At least once a year, the EMA is required to review its emergency response plan and provide an updated one to council for its approval as well as apprise council of its activities.
Powell noted that every year people come and go and circumstances change, so there’s a need to change the plan frequently.
“(It) has the shelf life of a plate of bananas. It’s stale pretty quickly, so we have to update it fairly often,” he said.
Council voted to approve the plan and accept Powell’s presentation as information.
Previously, Jamie Vasseur had been appointed deputy director of emergency management. Council voted to remove his name from that post because Vasseur has left employment with the town.
In a request for decision (RFD), town administrative staff noted that council had approved the hiring of a deputy fire chief.
“The responsibility of the town’s emergency management will be shifted to this portfolio and the appointment will come forward to council at a future council meeting, once this position is filled,” the RFD said.
Powell noted that during the past year, the EMA held a tabletop exercise simulating a disaster in the community.
“We simulated a long durative event of service interruption where feedstock gas, natural gas, was lost to this community for weeks,” he said.
The group also held observer status during a mock disaster undertaken by Whitecap Resources.
That sparked coun. Darren Wilson to ask if the town is planning – or required -- to conduct a mock disaster this year.
Powell said the town is not required to conduct one this year but is required to do so during or close to 2024.
However, he noted that the Mountain View Regional Emergency Management Agency, the host group of all emergency management the partners in the area, has a mock exercise coming up “so we would not want to double up on a mock training session in the same year.”
Coun. James Cummings asked if the community will receive after-action reports of disasters such as the recent derailment and burning of chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio.
Powell said, yes, those reports can be received.
“It’s a little longer to get from the United States,” he said.
He noted that an analysis of the Fort McMurray fire is available now.
