Kelowna Residents Take Part In First-ever Evacuation Drill To Be Better Prepared For Emergencies - Beritaja

Dozens of Kelowna households are amended prepared successful the arena of an emergency aft the first-of-its-kind wildfire removal drill complete the weekend.

“This is the first clip we’ve ever done it successful Kelowna,” said Brittany Seibert, emergency programme head pinch the Kelowna Fire Department. “This is thing we do spot successful Kelowna…we person times wherever we person to evacuate owed to nationalist safety.”

Wildfires were apical of mind for those taking portion successful the exercise.

In 2023, thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes erstwhile the McDougall Creek Wildfire forced them retired successful some Kelowna and West Kelowna.

Saturday’s workout progressive 2 neighbourhoods, Wilden and Magic Estates.

Seventy-five households had registered for the event, and about half took part, according to Seibert.

“The 2 areas that we’re targeting coming are ones that were successful 2023, that were put connected alert and past connected an bid and had to evacuate immediately,” said Dwight Seymour, Kelowna occurrence chief. “And truthful it is 2 areas that do person that consequence successful our community, but we besides person caller group that move into a organization that whitethorn not understand the risks.”

The drill besides progressive galore support agencies, specified arsenic Emergency Social Services, Kelowna’s Fire Smart Program and Central Okanagan Search and Rescue.

The extremity of the workout is to amended the nationalist and trial emergency consequence procedures.

“It’s really awesome for america arsenic preparedness and mitigation to believe what plans that we put successful place, what accusation we’ve sewage retired there, truthful that we cognize wherever location are immoderate gaps, aliases wherever we request to look astatine improving connected acquisition aliases what instructions we would springiness during an evacuation,” Seymour said.

A muster position was group up successful the parking batch of Prospera Place downtown, wherever would-be evacuees were told to gather.

“The residents cognize they’re going to beryllium having to evacuate, truthful they’re connected an alert but they will beryllium getting an contiguous order, which intends we want them to get retired astatine that nonstop time,” Seymour said erstwhile describing the exercise.

The drill focused heavy connected flight way options to debar creating bottlenecks arsenic evacuees each fly for information astatine the aforesaid time.

Residents were besides fixed reminders about the quality betwixt removal orders and alerts and what tactical evacuations are each about.

“We person an contiguous threat to residents aliases their property,” Seymour said. “We don’t person clip to put them connected alert aliases do an bid and we do a tactical order, which intends get retired now.”

The drill was done successful business pinch the National Research Council of Canada, which conducted a post-exercise study pinch participants to stitchery feedback.

“It’s ne'er going to beryllium rainbow and sunshine erstwhile it comes to an emergency,” Seibert said. “But what we want to effort to get for group is astatine slightest person a consciousness of, I don’t want to opportunity normality, but astatine slightest a consciousness of knowing what it’s for illustration to spell done this, truthful that they person a spot of consciousness of control.”

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"Kelowna Residents Take Part In First-ever Evacuation Drill To Be Better Prepared For Emergencies - Beritaja"

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