How ready are you if a natural disaster or other calamity were to hit Barrhead?
It is a question I found myself asking as I passed through what seems to be countless wild fires that are raging in British Columbia right now. Currently, as I write this, more than 14,000 British Colombians have been forced out of their homes due to the fires.
The answer, I believe, unfortunately, is no.
As many of our regular readers know, I am an amateur radio operator, and was actively involved in the Central Okanagan Regional District (CORD) Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) communication unit for many years.
Which is why the answer is a bit surprising.
While I was a member of the EOC the Central Okanagan experienced two major wildfire events. The first in 2003, in which 239 homes were destroyed and more than 30,000 people in Kelowna had to be evacuated in a single night.
Then there was 2009, when three separate fires surrounded the town of what is now West Kelowna forcing more than 20,000 people to be evacuated and countless others being prevented from getting to their homes as entire communities were blocked off as the major highway was closed because it went through the centre of one of the fires. I was one of those individuals.
This is why I am still amazed that I have grown complacent in my life to the point where I would be woefully unprepared if faced with a similar situation.
I hope most of our readers, and our two municipalities, have not fallen into the same trap.
I know as part of provincial legislation, municipalities have to undertake a major emergency exercise to test the viability of their plans and adjust them where necessary on a regular basis.
I’m not sure when these exercises occur for our two municipalities occur, but I encourage them to invite as many people and organizations to be part of them – especially Barrhead and District FCSS. A few months ago Shelley Dewsnap told County of Barrhead councillors how she was in the process of learning everything she could about emergency planning as the organization would be heavily relied on if people were displaced from their homes.
From my experience, she is correct as FCSS is the closest thing we have to a dedicated emergency social services organization.
Another thing I would like to see is our two municipalities come together and create one regional emergency plan. If something untoward, on the scope of a major flooding, toxic spill or wildfire would hit our communities it would take the combined efforts of both the town and county to deal with it. Something that the Central Okanagan realized many years ago when it created CORD.
In the meanwhile I encourage everyone to use the wildfire situation in B.C. as another reminder of the necessity of being prepared and that disaster can strike anywhere at anytime.
