Mayo wildfire evacuation report offers recommendations for supporting evacuees

A review of how officials, leaders and community members in Mayo, Yukon responded to the Talbot Creek wildfire and evacuation in 2023 has been released, and it makes several recommendations for improvements.

The Yukon Government-funded report, written by third-party contractor The Loomex Group, breaks down the evacuation as it happened.

A number of the recommendations relate to the experience of being an evacuee.

They include the need for better accommodation and support services for evacuees, and ensuring that check-in and check-out procedures are accommodating of those who live with disabilities, have language barriers, or have other special needs.

"The use of only one location to support all evacuees was identified as … [an] area of concern … the site did not address certain cultural traditions or the needs of First Nations communities," reads the after action review.

Shane Skarnulis, an emergency management planner with the Yukon government, said most of the recommendations from the review are similar to what they've seen in other reviews, such as for the Klondike River flooding and the evacuation of Old Crow.

"They all agree on the same points, more frequent communications, [and] improved training for First Nations and municipalities in emergency response," he said.

Shane Skarnulis is a manager at the Yukon government's Emergency Measures Organization. (Submitted by Shane Skarnulis )

Trevor Ellis, who is both mayor and the fire chief for Mayo said he thinks the review is an honest reflection of how the community felt about the evacuation.

"I didn't think it pulled any punches," he said.

Another recommendation in the report is a legislative review of the Civil Emergency Measures Act (CEMA) and the Yukon Government Emergency Co-ordination Plan, given that multiple jurisdictions were affected by the emergency.

Communications

The report, which is a standard practice after large scale emergencies, also acknowledges several successes, including a prompt evacuation thanks to good communication.

"Residents received critical information in a timely manner via social media campaigns, door-to-door outreach initiatives, and automated emergency alerts," states the report.

Aaron Burnie, a resident of Mayo, was at the Keno City Music Festival when the evacuation order went out in 2023. He attended some of the community meetings evaluating the response, and said he saw some of those successes first hand.

"They knew what they were doing," he said.

"I felt fairly confident that the right people were in place doing what was needed to be done to protect the community."