Dozens of Kelowna households are better prepared in the event of an emergency after the first-of-its-kind wildfire evacuation drill over the weekend.
“This is the first time we’ve ever done it in Kelowna,” said Brittany Seibert, emergency program manager with the Kelowna Fire Department. “This is something we do see in Kelowna…we have times where we have to evacuate due to public safety.”
Wildfires were top of mind for those taking part in the exercise.
In 2023, thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes when the McDougall Creek Wildfire forced them out in both Kelowna and West Kelowna.
Saturday’s exercise involved two neighbourhoods, Wilden and Magic Estates.
Seventy-five households had registered for the event, and about half took part, according to Seibert.
“The two areas that we’re targeting today are ones that were in 2023, that were put on alert and then on an order and had to evacuate immediately,” said Dwight Seymour, Kelowna fire chief. “And so it is two areas that do have that risk in our community, but we also have new people that move into a community that may not understand the risks.”
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The drill also involved numerous support agencies, such as Emergency Social Services, Kelowna’s Fire Smart Program and Central Okanagan Search and Rescue.
The goal of the exercise is to educate the public and test emergency response procedures.
“It’s really great for us as preparedness and mitigation to practice what plans that we put in place, what information we’ve got out there, so that we know where there are any gaps, or where we need to look at improving on education or what instructions we would give during an evacuation,” Seymour said.
A muster station was set up in the parking lot of Prospera Place downtown, where would-be evacuees were told to gather.
“The residents know they’re going to be having to evacuate, so they’re on an alert but they will be getting an immediate order, which means we want them to get out at that exact time,” Seymour said when describing the exercise.
The drill focused heavily on escape route options to avoid creating bottlenecks as evacuees all flee for safety at the same time.
Residents were also given reminders about the difference between evacuation orders and alerts and what tactical evacuations are all about.
“We have an immediate threat to residents or their property,” Seymour said. “We don’t have time to put them on alert or do an order and we do a tactical order, which means get out now.”
The drill was done in partnership with the National Research Council of Canada, which conducted a post-exercise survey with participants to gather feedback.
“It’s never going to be rainbow and sunshine when it comes to an emergency,” Seibert said. “But what we want to try to get for people is at least have a sense of, I don’t want to say normality, but at least a sense of understanding what it’s like to go through this, so that they have a bit of sense of control.”
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