With a large majority of Bald Range wildfire evacuees back home, City of Penticton officials are taking time to reflect on the emergency response.
About 12,000 people were ordered to evacuate early Aug. 8 as the fast-moving Bald Range wildfire encroached on the District of Summerland. More people were ordered to leave nearby areas in the Okanagan-Similkameen and on Penticton Indian Band lands, with many evacuees heading to Penticton.
Evacuees spent several days in Penticton during what is normally a busy period for tourism, with the Penticton Peach Festival underway. The city served as a hub for many people fleeing the wildfire.
Penticton Mayor Julius Bloomfield said that with many evacuees returning home, the city will continue to support neighbouring communities hit hard by the fire.
“Life is getting back to normal to some extent but for a lot of people it is nowhere near normal. We have to make sure that as the community moves back to normal, we have to acknowledge people that have lost everything and really help them weather that storm. There is going to be a tough couple of years for a lot of people in and around the community.” said Bloomfield, “We have a new normal. We have to make sure that when we build back, we build back to a better level and to a better standard and something more resilient to these situations because it would appear that this type of emergency is becoming more common. It used to be absolutely extraordinary to have whole towns evacuated, It is happening more often now, so we have to make sure that our systems can withhold that kind of pressure.”
During an interview on AM 1150’s Early Edition, Bloomfield was asked about the financial burden the city took on during the emergency response and how the costs would be shared with other levels of government. He said the finances will be discussed once the response to the Bald Range wildfire has wrapped up.
“That is going to be a good question and a good discussion that we are going to have with the Kelly Greene, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Management. I think that we need to have some certainty as to knowing how that is going to be dealt with. We’ve worked on good faith and we haven’t been disappointed in the past. I don’t expect to be disappointed this time around either.”
Bloomfield said lessons learned from the emergency response will also be front and centre in discussions at the upcoming Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, scheduled for mid-September in Vancouver.
“I’ve made a list of takeaways from all of these events over the past two weeks that I’m going to formulate, put in and pass around at UBCM. First of all, you got to have an evacuation plan and we’ve got that, we did that. We were looking at if things went sideways, would we have to evacuate Penticton, and there was a plan for that. Every community should have that kind of plan at hand ready in case the worst happens. Each community should have a plan as to how to host other communities. I think Penticton did a lot of things right. Some things could have gone better, that’s for sure. I think that we can sit in a room full of our peers and say this is what we did and this is what we think your goal should be. We can be a valuable part of that conversation moving forward.”
Looking back on the response, Bloomfield said the support for evacuees was uplifting to witness firsthand.
“Everybody came to help. The common theme was how can I help? Whether it be community, whether it be individuals, or companies, businesses, associations, the outpouring of support was spectacular.”
The Bald Range wildfire remains out of control at 25,021 hectares. The BC Wildfire Service continues to fight the fire with 339 personnel, 15 helicopters, 79 pieces of heavy equipment and 19 structure-protection personnel.
