Hundreds of B.C. firefighters are training in Penticton this weekend | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Penticton News

Hundreds of B.C. firefighters are training in Penticton this weekend

Andre Chalabi, provincial operations with B.C. Wildfire, led an instruction during the Wildfire Training Symposium in Penticton on April 23.

Calendar photographers grab your gear – hundreds of B.C. firefighters are in Penticton this weekend for the Wildfire Training Symposium.

The South Okanagan city is a valuable training ground for provincial firefighters as it's surrounded by forests and regularly experiences droughts. 

“What you see in Penticton is really risky fuel type that’s right next to homes,” Kelsey Winter, FireSmart program coordinator, said at the symposium.

“You see urban sprawl and houses built up on heavy slopes. There’s big timbers, really dry areas and lots of wind.”

For those reason, Penticton is a community where it’s especially important for homeowners and the fire department to work together, Winter said.

The importance of putting out fires that are threatening valuable assets has always been obvious but Winter said the collective understanding of prevention is becoming increasingly crucial.

“If we want to protect communities and not lose hundreds of houses, we’re going to need to do the preventive side of things as well and not just suppression,” she said.

Some firefighters travelled from as far as Smithers to be in Penticton this weekend.

“It’s always great to be able to drive on the streets before you have to fight fires on them, so I think the familiar is a huge thing and the Okanagan is a busy place for fires," Winter said. 

READ MORE: Fire fighters convene in Lake Country to get ready for season ahead

While Penticton offers an ideal training environment for wildfire crews, the reason the Wildfire Training Symposium is happening locally is because of local fire chief Larry Watkinson.

Many fires ago while at a similar convention in Reno, Nevada, he had a discussion with other B.C. firefighters about hosting one up north.

“It started out as a cocktail conversation on a napkin,” Watkinson said.

“It’s rewarding to see it all happen because we’ve been working on this for five years.”

Lessons and knowledge about wildfires were gathered and refined into a “qualified curriculum” for the symposium, Watkinson said.

“Now we’re communicating the same way, understanding each others tactics when we’re out in the field.”

In the past, Watkinson said some crews used different names for the same tactics that could lead to confusion when multiple departments were working together.

“So instead of being all independent organizations we’ve becoming on sort of synergized team.”

READ MORE: Volunteer fire departments in B.C. still face training, cost challenges meeting new standards

— This story was updated at 11:53 a.m. Tuesday, April 26, 2022, to correct the spelling of fire chief Larry Watkinson's last name.


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