Ensuring the city is ready for an emergency requires the participation of all city departments, Whitehorse fire chief Jason Everitt told city council last Monday.

“Due to the broad and expansive requirements of this responsibility, all divisions within the corporation must contribute to this effort in the identification of significant risks, hazards and exposures within their sphere of influence,” Everitt said.

Joining him for the presentation on emergency preparedness were Keith Fickling, the regional manager for Yukon Wildland Fire Management, and Danielle Trudeau, the director of the Emergency Measures Organization (EMO).

The fire chief said examples of critical risks requiring specific response and recovery plans may include disruption to critical water and sewer services, communication and network assets, transportation emergencies and health and safety-related risks.

“Natural and climate related emergencies along with threats external to the city but having an impact on our citizens require close co- ordination and integration with external partners,” Everitt told council.

He said regular review of the Municipal Emergency Management Plan and other supporting plans is needed to ensure ineffective and inappropriate processes are updated to accepted standards.

“In the event that an actual crisis does not occur requiring the activation of the Emergency Management Plan, then an annual review should occur to challenge the plan and identify areas of improvement,” Everitt said.

“In the event that the plan is activated, an After Action Review is conducted post-incident to identify areas of improvement to which updates are made.”

He said regular training and testing of the plan are necessary to ensure designated staff are familiar with their roles, and to ensure that assisting and co-operating agencies can easily merge and collaborate where required.

The Municipal Emergency Management Plan was reviewed and revised in 2020, he said.

Everitt said a subordinate plan, the Public Safety Protection Plan, was presented to council in June 2020.

The protection plan was designed around the elements necessary for public protection with a focus on such actions as shelter-in-place as well as evacuation, he said.

Efforts to promote this document are ongoing, but because of COVID restrictions, public outreach has been limited to primarily electronic methods, he said.

“The Crisis Communications Plan is currently under review, and changes are being made to ensure that current crisis communications tools such as Whitehorse Alert are referenced and adopted within the strategy.”

Everitt noted the EMO and Wildland Fire Management are key partners.

“Through close co-ordination, we can ensure that synergies are achieved in training, communications, action co-ordination and sharing of resources occur with minimal conflict,” he told council.

Everitt said city staff are reviewing the Crisis Communication Plan to ensure it aligns with the Yukon Crisis Communication processes.

A city-wide test of the Whitehorse Alert is scheduled for this Thursday to encourage registration and allow registered users an opportunity to experience the service, the chief said.

Fickling said staff prepare for the fire season by having the necessary resources in place ready to respond to incidents as required.

A number of tools keep Yukoners up-to-date on fire danger ratings and wildfire activity, such as the wildfire at www.yukon.ca, he pointed out.

Fickling said prevention and fire mitigation work is continuing to reduce the overall risk to the community.

Thinning the forest in 101 hectares along the Copper Haul Road to reduce the fuel load and create a firebreak is ongoing, and is expected to be completed in 2023, he said.

Fickling said 130,000 deciduous aspen seedlings will be planted across 51 hectares of the Whitehorse South fuel break and 60 hectares of FireSmart fuel treatment areas.

There has been extensive fuel reduction in southern Yukon with a focus within city limits, he said.

FireSmarting, he said, will go on forever, as the forest replenishes itself in about 25 years.

Fickling said they have reached an agreement with each First Nation to provide one fire crew each.

There’s also a three-year agreement with the First Nations to provide one 20-person crew, he said.

Hickling said Wildland Fire Management works closely with First Nations and has a good relationship with them.

The local Kwanlin Dun First Nation and the Ta’an Kwach’an Council both have FireSmarting programs on their lands, he pointed out.

Trudeau said the EMO will hold its annual emergency preparedness meeting at the end of the month.

Currently, she said, officials are trying to understand what the flood risk is, given the above-average snowfall across the Yukon this past winter.