The City of Penticton has taken the step of asking residents to temporarily evacuate their homes as crews evaluate the threat of a potential rockslide.
“Earlier today City staff were informed of a large rock that has the potential to break off, posing a potential threat to nearby residences,” says Emergency Operations Centre director Kristen Dixon. “Staff immediately had the site reviewed by a professional geotechnical engineer and following that, made the decision to evacuate the potentially impacted properties. The City is working to further assess the area, and develop plans to remove the rock fall risk.”
The 24 properties are located in the northwest corner of the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park on Penticton Avenue.
Residents were informed by members of the Penticton Fire Department and Bylaw Services of the potential threat earlier this afternoon. Emergency Support Services has been activated at Fire Hall 2 at 285 Dawson Avenue.
“Residents are asked to go down to the ESS centre and register as this will allow us to continue to update them on developments and what next steps may be necessary to deal with the hazard,” says Dixon.
While a local State of Emergency has not yet been declared, the City’s Emergency Operations Centre has been activated to Level One and continues to evaluate the needed response level.