A crowd erupted into applause as residents affected by the Upper Tantallon-area wildfire aired their concerns to politicians and other officials at a public meeting Thursday night.
It was the first large in-person meeting that included all residents since a wildfire tore through their neighbourhoods at the end of May and early June, destroying 151 homes.
“Residents of Westwood Hills are worried, and they’re scared and they have every right to be,” said Dustin O’Leary, president of the Westwood Hills Residents Association.
He and others are calling for action to set up new exits, dry hydrants and firewalls. Speakers also criticized communication during and after the wildfire and called for better collaboration between the province and HRM.
“Work behind the scenes to make our neighbourhoods safer and do it fast,” O’Leary said.
The meeting, which was coordinated by District 13 Councillor Pam Lovelace, gave politicians and first responders a chance to speak to and hear directly from residents.
People leapt to their feet to give the Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency a standing ovation as they walked toward the microphone. The crowd also applauded for the SPCA’s efforts to save 136 animals.
As the applause filled the gym, so did the criticisms. Residents shared frustration over what they describe as slow and poor communication and late evacuation orders. Some also called for accountability and an update on DNRR’s investigation into what caused the fire.
“When will DNR be filing charges against the person or persons responsible for the fire and if so, when can we expect to hear?” asked Marion Gillespie, co-chair of the Highland Park Ratepayers Association.
Many residents saw the meeting as a good first step but also took issue with the fact there was no opportunity to ask direct questions.
Denys Prevost, who spoke on behalf of Perry Pond residents, said the conversation has to start somewhere.
“I don’t think that was the intention of the meeting, but that was certainly the intention of the residents,” said Prevost.
As the municipality and province undergo their own after-action reports, Prevost and others want residents to be involved.
“When you’re looking at how you did, you got to be listening to the people you were serving as well as what your folks did,” he said.
The desire to have a seat at the table has prompted residents to form the Tantallon Wildfire Life Safety Coalition, an umbrella group of several neighbourhood associations that aim to represent the concerns of the residents in one voice.
“I didn’t hear a plan from the municipality or provincial government and I think that’s going to come hopefully with some nudging from us,” said Martin Kenward, who’s with the safety coalition. “We want to work with the municipality, with the provincial government hand-in-hand but we want a seat at the table.”
Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Ben Jessome, MLA for Hammonds Plains Lucasville, said he appreciated people’s candour.
“I thought people were respectful but direct on things they needed to talk about,” Jessome said, noting many of the issues have been longstanding ones.
Jessome narrowed in on communication and described the doubling up of press conferences by the HRM and the province during the initial days of the firefight as conflicting and confusing.
“It was like this dualling scenarios that really took away from any critical messaging that needed to be delivered,” he said.
He also believed the HRM should have reached out to residents who had called 311 to share their address and conact information.
“People were begged to call 311,” Jessome said. “There was next to no direct information although they had that information.”
Lovelace, who coordinated the meeting, noted she heard a consistent message from residents and council is already looking at ways to fix the budget to ensure funds for egress are there.
Lovelace said the after-action report needs to be compiled and chronicled by agencies involved.
“Every single detail needs to be done by both the province and the municipality and all of the various different agencies,” she said.
Once that’s done, there will be an opportunity to sit down with the public and ask them to fill in the gaps.
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