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COLUMN: Preparing in case of an emergency

Residents encouraged to take advance measures during wildfire season
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With all the forest fires in British Columbia residents have been wondering what we have done in Summerland to prepare for something similar here and what would to do if it did happen.

Prevention

The Summerland Fire Department has been very proactive over the last few years in applying for and receiving grant money which helps to pay for fuel reduction (mitigation) work in the Deer Ridge area, Canyon View, Little Giants Head Mountain and Snow Avenue area.

This work involves crews going out and cutting and clearing dead trees, limbs and brush.

The developer of Hunters Hill has also done considerable forest fire fuel removal as a condition of the subdivision permit. You may have noticed the fires as this material was burned earlier in the year.

Emergencies

Residents should always be prepared to be self-sufficient for 72 hours. Information on personal preparedness is available on the web at the Emergency Management BC website http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery

Recently someone was telling me that they were preparing their “split kit.” Their split kit was all the things that they would need or want to take with them if they had to leave without notice in an emergency.

Information

In Summerland, the best source of information for our residents is the municipal Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SummerlandBC

You can also sign up to be a Twitter follower at the District’s website www.summerland.ca. In an emergency Twitter provides the most immediate updates. Incidentally, if you go to our Twitter site you can see interesting photos of the crews replacing the Pressure Reducing Valve this spring.

Our fire chief Glenn Noble strongly advises that residents rely on official press releases and official agency websites to obtain accurate and relevant information.

Social media, at times, can cause problems for first responders due to incorrect information posted.

Noble invites those with further questions to drop by the fire hall between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., seven days a week. If stairs are a problem there is a door buzzer on the wall beside the main door. You can also call them at 250-494-7211.

Evacuations

If evacuations are needed on short notice, typically for a specific area or building it would be handled in by the Fire Department with the help of the RCMP.

If a planned evacuation is required for a larger area and on longer notice the RCMP would take the lead, with assistance from Search and Rescue.

Emergency Social Services would be activated to deal with the evacuees.

In Summerland the arena banquet room is the designated reception centre for evacuees, however, depending on the scale of the event or evacuation, the reception centre could changed or augmented by reception centres in Penticton or Peachland.

Richard Barkwill is a Summerland municipal councillor.