Fire chief, Wildrose leader react to 'damning' Fort McMurray wildfire reports

There is no doubt the evacuation of Fort McMurray during a devastating wildfire came too late, but no one is to blame, fire ChiefJody Butz said Friday.

Nobody could have predicted the "unprecedented" infernothat destroyed hundreds of homes and forced the entire city to evacuate, Butz said, speaking about apair of government reports that describe achaotic, disorganized emergencyresponse.

Any community would have struggled

The fire grew so forcefully, any community would have struggled to cope, he said.

"Obviously, in reflection, we can all agree [the response] wasn't soon enough," Butz said in a news conference from Fort McMurray.

"But in understanding the size and the scale of how this wildfire had blown up,for all intents and purposes, I think the work done from that point forward was incredible."

Butzwas assistant deputy fire chief for the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo at the time of the May 2016 wildfire.He was appointed chief in February of this year, after the retirement of former chief Darby Allen.

The reviews conducted on behalf of Alberta Agriculture and Forestryillustratethe chaos and confusion around the emergency response during the first hours and days of the battle to save the northern Alberta city.

• Poor co-ordination and communication hindered battle with FortMcMurraywildfire, says report

The most scathingreport shows neither the province or the city were fully prepared for the disaster, which destroyed hundreds of homes and forced residentsto flee for their lives.

That reviewwas completed in March butonly released to the public on Thursday, hoursafter a source leaked the document to CBC News.

'Hard truths'

Asecondgovernment-commissioned report that lookedat the evacuation and return to FortMcMurraywas also released Thursday.

"There are some hard truths there, and some lessons we had needed to learn,"Butzsaid of the reports."We know the lessons learned."

He said thecommunication breakdownthat left municipal firefighters unaware of the impending inferno, even as it breached city limits,was the hardest operational failure for him to comprehend.

But the bulk of the findings only confirmed what he knew were the biggest failings.

'Shockingly arrogant'

WildroseLeader Brian Jean said the Notley government'sdecision to withhold the report for monthsis a disgrace.

"It's absolutely unacceptable and it's disgraceful that they would hide this report fromAlbertanswhen so many are waiting for it," Jean saidFriday.

"This is the worst natural disaster in our provincial history. Itdemands more respect from the government."

Jean, the MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin, lost his own home in the blaze.

He said the province has deliberately attempted to "whitewash" its failures and mislead the public on the status of the report.

"It's shocking that the government would respond this way to the people they're supposed to serve."

He said thousands of lives were put at risk, andthe people of FortMcMurraydeserve answers.

One of the questionsthe province has failed to address is whether evacuation orders came too late, he said.

"Thepeople in FortMcMurrayhave been demanding answers about what happenedfor 13 months and they want to know."

In a hastily staged news conference Thursday evening, Agriculture and Forestry MinisterOneilCarlierdenied thatthe government delayedthe release of the findings in an effort to avoid opposition criticism while the legislaturewas in session. The sitting ended this week.

• Lives risked over communication breakdown during FortMcMurraywildfire, councillor says.

Instead, Carliersuggested the release was delayed due to "sensitivities" around the one-year anniversary of the city's evacuation.

'They need answers'

The report, prepared by consultants from MNP LLP and wildfire experts from B.C. and Ontario, citesa lack of resources and communication breakdowns as some of the key issues that plagued the emergency response.

The report notes thatin the early days of the fire, the two crews battling the blazeswere operating through different command centres.

One crew chief realized that battering winds would likely bring the flames into the community within a matter of hours, but failed to warn municipal crews who were working on the perimeter of Fort McMurray, the report says.

City fire crews learnedthe fire had breached city limits throughreports on social media.

The report made 10 recommendations, including a call for a joint wildfire planning team made up of senior forestry staff and representatives of the oilsands, energy, forestry and utility industries.It also recommended the creation of a single incident command centre and urgedthe province to get better prepared earlier in the wildfire season.

A second report, by consultant KPMG,examined the overall emergency response effort. It was completed in May and also released Thursday.

KPMG made 21 recommendations, including clarifying and documenting how to delegate authority in emergency situations.

The government said it has accepted the recommendations from both reports and is acting on them.

• Alberta government urged to hold public inquiry into FortMcMurrayfire

Jean said the government's secretive handling ofthe investigation is furtherproof the disasterneeds to be investigated through a public inquiry. If not, survivors of the disaster will continue to question what went wrong, he argued.

The municipality has commissioned its own review of the wildfire response, an independent investigationwhich will focus on the first days of the disaster. That report,beingconducted byKPMG,is due out this summer.