With wildfire season looming, Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) Board Chair Rob Gay says the local government is doing as much as it can to prepare.
Gay says teamwork between various governments is vital to the RDEK’s emergency management response.
“We have gained a lot of experience over the years. We’ve had the Ktunaxa Nation, other Indigenous partners and municipal partners come into our emergency operations centre (EOC) and get experience,” said Gay.
“We’re getting more experience and training as we deal with more emergency situations.”
He says getting organized quickly under pressure has been the RDEK’s strength when emergencies hit.
“When you get a fire or flood, the first 24 hours are really important. You get a flurry of things going on, the media wants to know what’s going on, we want to know what’s going on, and so do the residents,” said Gay.
“We’re ready to go, and I think we’ve proved that. We really have a good team behind us.”
Residents can have a direct line of emergency information from the RDEK through the Regional Evacuation Notification System (ENS), powered by Voyent Alert.
Gay says the free alert system has been well-received by the public.
“We’re up to about 28,000 people on our ENS now, but we would like to see that grow more,” said Gay.
“It’s really important for us to get people signed up on that so when there is an evacuation or an alert, we can get in touch with people quickly.”
Gay says weather conditions next month will determine what is to come for the summer.
“June is usually the key month for us. If you get a wet June, you can usually make it through part of July, but if you get a dry June, you might be in trouble,” said Gay.
According to the BC Wildfire Service, the Kootenays may see a less intense start to the wildfire season this year due to above-average precipitation, particularly in March.
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