The scenario: there's a wildfire in the Bragg Creek area and it's threatening the well-being of the forested hamlet.

The end result: unknown at this time.

Just how  emergency response personnel  respond to such a crisis is exactly what will be put to test in an emergency exercise next Saturday, Apr. 29, by Rocky View County (RVC) and several neighbouring municipalities.

 “This is a valuable exercise for us to take part in because it allows us to set up and test the procedures we would use in an emergency situation,” says Randy Smith, RVC  fire chief and director of emergency management for Rocky View County.  “We can then identify and address any issues that may arise, before a real crisis happens.”

There's a number of resources called upon when a potential catastrophe needs to be averted and they'll all be active during the course of the exercise. The Bragg Creek Community Centre will become the emergency operations centre and mock reception area while emergency crews will be in West Bragg Creek. It will bring together emergency management teams and equipment from Rocky View County, the Town of Cochrane, the Tsuut’ina Nation, Redwood Meadows, Banff, Chestermere, the Town of Crossfield and others.

Planning for the exercise started last year, explains Smith, and once funding from made available by the Alberta government through the  Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta details started to be hammered out  in January.

Testing emergency preparedness isn't new to the county and they've been conducted in several different areas, using scenarios to their topography. 

"As the director of emergency management I get the joy of spreading the terror around Rocky View County from year to year," chuckles Smith.

Past exercises include a flood scenario in Bragg Creek, the impact of a tornado ripping down main street Langdon and responding to a  fuel tanker flipping on Hwy. 2.

"In this particular case, we've completed a strategic plan for wildfire response for Bragg Creek and then last year we completed a response guide for Bragg Creek," explains Smith. "This was really the nature progression from strategic planning to response guide to now exercising the plan and that's part of how you exercise and improve upon your emergency program."

Throughout the exercise, residents will see a high presence of emergency vehicles and personnel, although no people will be relocated during the exercise. There will be signs throughout the area and traffic shouldn’t be impacted.

Visitors are welcome to stop by the mock reception centre to see how emergency housing and other social services would operate.