Penticton wildfire training symposium, first of its kind in the Okanagan

Steve Boultbee lives on the outskirts of Penticton away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but what comes with the idyllic views of Campbell Mountain is the fire risk.

“If we get a fire here, you can see its scrub, pine needles — it does put a lot of pressure on the firefighters to hold it here, let alone save us,” Boultbee said.

It’s the ideal location to simulate an interface fire for training purposes.

From April 6 to 8, 150 municipal firefighters from 27 jurisdictions across B.C. will descend on Penticton for the first training exercise of its kind in the Okanagan.

Large billboards have been erected in the Campbell Mountain area to alert residents.

The exercise will involve a controlled burn and large firefighting presence.

“One for training and second for fuel management and reduction in this area,” said Penticton fire Chief Larry Watkinson.

“It’s a heavily recreated area and we know that so what we want to try to do is burn off those ladder fuels and the ground fuels so that the threat isn’t so extreme.”

A fire will be deliberately set so crews can get a taste of the real thing.

Munson Mountain will also be closed for command and control operations.

“We’re really trying to build it so those who are coming here, when the day happens in their community, they have an idea with what to do in the first eight hours of that event.”

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Residents like Boultbee are supportive of the exercise but say the rural area lacks fire protection found in most urban neighbourhoods.

“The fire hydrant issue is really important to us. Having an active burn here is a good thing, we should be reducing the fuel source, but what we really need is fire hydrants,” he said.

The fire department said it doesn’t have plans to extend fire hydrants on Spiller Road and residents who choose to live in rural areas must assume some of the risks, which Boultbee acknowledges.

“We knew coming in that this was part of it, we’re interface.”

He said he doesn’t mind the disruption for training.

“This valley has really high-end firefighters, but even Gretzky has to practice.”

Meanwhile, the City of Penticton showed off its new Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) to the media on Tuesday, ahead of the flood and fire season.

The EOC is located at the Penticton Fire Hall and it will be the epicentre for managing an emergency in the Penticton area.

It includes desk space for each member of the emergency response team — pulled from city senior management staff.

It also includes a central area for conference calls and a smart board that allows officials to map out developing events.

Emergency planning co-ordinator Chris Forster said it’s vital to have all of the players in one room when an emergency strikes.

“If there was a fire for example, we’re going to have our initial response, but then we’d need somebody like the RCMP to sit there and do the evacuation,” he said.

“So if we have to go and contact them outside, it just delays it. This way, if we have one of their members here, we can immediately deal with them.”

Forster said the city is also applying for provincial grants to carry out a flood risk assessment and structural flood mitigation efforts.

WATCH BELOW: Global Okanagan coverage of wildfires in 2017 

2:30 Group of Kelowna students pays tribute to first responders who worked on wildfire in a small community east of the city

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• Province urged to act as BC faces ‘new normal’ wildfire threat
• Meet the people on the front lines of the Finlay Creek wildfire
• Some residents defy wildfire evacuation order near Summerland
• Finlay Creek wildfire puts damper on long weekend tourism
• Evacuation alert issued for Finlay Creek wildfire near Peachland, B.C.
• Municipal fire crews helping save homes threatened by wildfire near Kelowna
• No growth of Philpott Road wildfire near Kelowna; more evacuees allowed home
• The latest on the wildfire east of Kelowna
• Philpott Road wildfire continues to challenge fire firefighters
• Philpott Road wildfire uncontained but less aggressive
• Philpott Road wildfire under control near Kelowna
• Amateur video captures wildfire burning near Kelowna, B.C.
• Timelapse shows wildfire as it breaks out near Joe Rich, B.C.
• Wildfire breaks out in Joe Rich area near Kelowna
• Suspicious wildfires under investigation in West Kelowna
• Wildfire quickly snuffed out by West Kelowna fire crews
• Spallumcheen wildfire under control
• Spallumcheen wildfire contained
• Munro Wildfire near Peachland aided by provincial state of emergency

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