Alberta promises better disaster response following second Slave Lake review

EDMONTON – The Alberta government has released another review of the wildfires that devastated the town of Slave Lake two years ago.

Consulting firm KPMG has made 19 recommendations to improve the province’s disaster response.

The government says its accepts all the suggestions and has implemented many of them already, including improvements to its emergency alert system.

A report last spring by a retired RCMP supervisor said residents weren’t warned about safety risks or evacuation plans in the days before the fires destroyed roughly one-third of the community.

Some people complained that they weren’t given enough warning and, when they realized they had to evacuate, were forced to turn around because some roads were closed.

More than 500 homes and buildings were destroyed at an estimated cost of $1 billion.