On Sept.10, a wildfire tore through southern Alberta, forcing hundreds of residence to flee their homes. The fire was sparked by downed power lines on the Blood Reserve approximately 70 km south west of Lethbridge and ended up scorching 50 square km of land. With extremely dry conditions and fierce winds topping 110 km/h, the fire spread quickly and forced emergency crews to work around the clock to contain the flames and inform individuals in its destructive path.
To residents in Southern Alberta, this fire seemed oddly familiar. On November 27 of last year, a similar blaze broke out on the same reserve. Winds in this fire had hurricane speed gusts of over 115 km/h and ended up scorching 10 square km of land. Yet the efficiency and response of emergency crews on Monday’s blaze was substantially better due to the simple fact that they learned from last year.
When the fire broke out last year, it spread quickly on the ground as well as on social media sites. Almost as soon as the western sky filled with smoke, people began tweeting and posting at an alarming rate. By sending out unconfirmed information, panic and fear set citizens scrambling in all directions. There was so much confusion that the entire west end of Lethbridge was gridlocked in chaos as people raced to get in and out of their communities. City officials and emergency response crews failed to recognize that they had a bigger problem on their hands than just a fire.
In the past, social media has been viewed as being unreliable for credible information considering it is a publicly run site where individuals can post whatever they like. But one thing that emergency responders did not recognize is its ability of immediacy by being able to relay information almost in real time. With all the panic and commotion caused by the flurry of posts, emergency crews could do nothing about controlling the flow of traffic in, out, or around the flames.
Even though last Monday’s fire was notably larger, emergency crews where able to maintain control of civilians by using social media as a tool to relay vital information. Local media outlets, such as CJOC, Lethbidge Herald and the Endeavour had crews out almost immediately relaying confirmed information on such things as road closures, evacuation notices and the location of the fire. Even the City of Lethbridge and the Alberta Emergency Alert website were on Facebook and Twitter, posting and tweeting away to give citizens up-to-the-minute information. All of this was done in hopes of not causing the same chaos that we saw last November.
City officials and investigators took a close look at how they responded to the wildfire the previous year. They conducted an investigation and found that they had underestimated the power of social media and saw that it could be used as a tool to control the flow of traffic.
This year, road closures and evacuation notices were posted immediately and often to ensure that as many citizens as possible were aware of the fast approaching danger. With up-to-the-minute updates, evacuees were notified of local muster points with ample time to prepare. Road closures seemed to be done methodically, long before the flames were in view of any highway or range road. Social media made all this possible and enabled emergency crews to gain and maintain control of a chaotic situation.
The fire on Monday spread as fast as 140 feet per minute and threatened to torch thousands of homes. Without a way to efficiently relaying information with its public, many more homes and people would have been in grave danger. Social media played a crucial roll in saving lives on Monday afternoon. If it were not for the constant barrage of posts and tweets, citizens on southern Alberta would be dealing with a much grimmer investigation.