Emergency Preparedness: How Ready are You? (Part 1)

Last years massive grass fire came within a whisker of causing life-threatening and property damaging conditions in west Lethbridge. Only a fine effort by emergency response teams and some luck prevented a serious dissaster. Lethbridge and area has an emergency response plan specific to local concerns and is also included in a provincial/national plan dealing with larger emergencies. However, for these plans to be successful, public cooperation with officials are paramount and communication through the media, including social media, is also very important. The speaker will outline some details of the general plan, what worked and what didn’t in last November’s grass fire and relate how the public can best react during emergencies, be that fire, harardous material escape, floods, power outage, severe weather etc. Speaker: Brian Cornforth, Fire Chief & Director of Emergency Planning Brian Cornforth has been in this position with the City of Lethbridge since June 2002. Previously he held the position of Fire Chief in Airdrie after serving terms as Deputy Chief in both Coaldale and Jasper. Brian is also President of the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association and serves locally on the board of Safety City. He is very focused on the safety of emergency responders and ensuring that communities in Alberta are properly prepared for emergencies.