Final After-Action Report for Yellowhead County Spring 2023 Wildfires and Flooding

Please download the above PDF to view the Report.

Yellowhead County 2023 Disaster After Action Report Part II

This report was done by 9Zero Solutions Ltd., an independent company hired by Yellowhead County.
The span of this report covers an extended timeframe from the start of the fires to the closure of the Emergency Coordination Centre 63 days later. While the methodology for the after-action review focused primarily on Yellowhead County’s response to the wildfires, there are references throughout regarding the coordination of flooding response.
As an effective after-action review, this report is designed to acknowledge both best practices and opportunities for improvement.

The report is organized around eleven themes. While the themes
are not mutually exclusive, an effort was made to ensure a logical grouping of information.

The following eleven themes are expanded upon in the report:
• Theme 1: Emergency Management Program
• Theme 2: Operational Response
• Theme 3: Alberta Wildfire
• Theme 4: Evacuation
• Theme 5: Emergency Social Services
• Theme 6: Provincial Coordination
• Theme 7: 9 1 1 & Dispatch
• Theme 8: Communications
• Theme 9: Training & Education
• Theme 10: Mental Health & Wellness
• Theme 11: Community Education & Empowerment

While the request for this review was made by Yellowhead County and is designed to provide
information to learn from this event, disasters are not simple. When a large incident occurs that
crosses multiple jurisdictions with many different players, it is impossible to review one group’s
actions in isolation. Throughout the review there are comments intended for partners, particularly
Alberta Wildfire, and other provincial entities.