Organization: South Region Emergency Social Services Network

If a major emergency forced residents out of Pincher Creek and the surrounding area, where would they go and who would support them?

That question is now part of active planning discussions, as the Town of Pincher Creek, the Municipal District of Pincher Creek and the Village of Cowley review a regional evacuation framework being developed by the City of Lethbridge.

According to Brett Wuth, regional director of emergency management, each municipality in Alberta is responsible for planning and delivering emergency social services for its residents during a disaster or large-scale emergency.

In most situations, Wuth says, the Pincher Creek region has the capacity to manage evacuations internally through its partnership between the town, the MD and Cowley. Reception centres can be established at facilities such as the community hall, town hall or designated churches to provide essential services for evacuees.

However, discussions with Lethbridge focus on scenarios that exceed local capacity, including situations where reception centres cannot be established within the region and evacuees would need to be relocated elsewhere.

“We are part of an even larger gathering of municipalities working together, called the South Region Emergency Social Services Network. That includes the City of Lethbridge, plus many other municipalities in southern Alberta,” Wuth tells Shootin’ the Breeze.

Lethbridge is developing a framework outlining how it could receive evacuees from surrounding municipalities during such events. Pincher Creek’s regional emergency partners are reviewing the framework to determine how it could be used if needed.

“If we couldn’t set up a reception centre within our own area, we would be looking toward the City of Lethbridge as a possible place to send evacuees to,” Wuth says.

“Of course, that receiving community needs to agree to that and set up their services on our behalf to be able to support that. And that’s what this framework is about.”

Wuth emphasizes that any formal agreement would be finalized only at the time of an actual emergency, once a request is made and accepted. The current review process is intended to clarify how such a request would be initiated and how support would be provided.

The region already operates under a unified structure through the Pincher Creek Regional Emergency Management Organization, which brings together the Town and MD of Pincher Creek and the Village of Cowley under a single emergency response plan.

“We all use the same plan. We have a common pool of response to incidents,” he says. “It’s the same people responding whether the incident is in the town, the MD or the Village of Cowley.”

The framework with Lethbridge would be used only in the event of a widespread emergency that prevents local reception centres from being established. Wuth says while the region has not experienced such an incident, planning for that possibility is necessary.

Historically, the area has dealt primarily with flooding, where residents are often asked to shelter in place and wildfires, which can affect larger populations. Wuth says that while large-scale evacuations have not been required in the past, events such as a major flood or wildfire could create that need.

“There’s a rising consciousness of the need for planning between municipalities,” he says, adding that proactive inter-municipal planning is encouraged by the provincial government.

If an evacuation were required, Wuth says the response would be co-ordinated through an incident command post. All partner agencies, including fire services, RCMP and Alberta Health, would be involved in decision-making, including whether to order an evacuation and where evacuees would be directed.

At the same time as local evacuation efforts, the municipality would identify and confirm where residents should go, which could include Lethbridge if the framework is used.

Meanwhile, Mayor Wayne Oliver says the town has also focused on strengthening local preparedness through training and education.

In January, council members attended a provincially led course for elected officials that provides an overview of emergency management in Alberta, including municipal and provincial roles and recent updates to the Emergency Management Act.

A second workshop was held locally, led by Wuth, and included representatives from the Town and MD of Pincher Creek and the Village of Cowley. Oliver says the session provided hands-on training for council, particularly around declaring and ending a state of local emergency.

“One of the main roles of council is to declare states of local emergency,” Oliver says, noting that such declarations grant municipalities expanded powers under provincial legislation to respond effectively.

Those powers can include acquiring or using equipment and property, directing qualified individuals to assist and ordering evacuations when public safety is at risk. Without a declaration, Oliver says, municipalities do not have the authority to order evacuations.

Decisions to declare a state of local emergency are based on recommendations from emergency management professionals, he notes, emphasizing that council relies on expert advice in those situations.

The January training sessions were mandatory under provincial legislation, which requires emergency management training for elected officials within six months of a municipal election.

Looking ahead, Oliver says he believes the town’s current emergency planning is adequate and that large-scale evacuations are unlikely, though not impossible.

“I don’t see a scenario where the entire town would have to evacuate,” he says, pointing to the 1995 flood as an example of a significant event that affected parts of the community.

Regarding Lethbridge, Oliver says those details are being handled by emergency management professionals and views the city as a practical option if outside support were ever needed.

“Lethbridge, being the size that it is, if we sent 100 or 200 people to Lethbridge, it’s a big enough city that they would be absorbed,” he says.

Wuth says the key message for residents is reassurance that planning is ongoing, co-ordinated and built on co-operation at both the local and regional levels.

“I want to assure [residents] that we’re working as a community that includes all of our partners. The town, the MD and the Village of Cowley are working together, and we extend that beyond to our neighbours,” he says.

“We are supporting our neighbours when they have needs, and we’re working with them to help us when we’re in those situations as well.”

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This article was reported and written by Shootin’ the Breeze’s Local Journalism Initiative reporter. 

The Local Journalism Initiative is a federally funded program that supports original public-interest journalism in smaller or underserved communities across Canada. Content produced through the initiative is editorially independent and may be shared by other Canadian media outlets.

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