The McDougall Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside above houses in West Kelowna, B.C., on Friday, August 18, 2023.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
October 10, 2023 - 3:30 PM
Rick de Jong just gave one example of the many questions that have come up about response from emergency service to this past summer’s McDougall Creek wildfire when he spoke to West Kelowna city council today, Oct. 10.
It’s a poignant indication of what thousands of evacuees faced when they had to flee their homes on Aug. 17.
“Why was the emergency support services processing location put in West Kelowna council chambers when so many were being evacuated?” the West Kelowna city councillor said in support of his motion for the regional district to conduct an independent public hearing process on the response to the fire.
“The capacity of council chambers could not handle the volume of people yet it took almost a full week for emergency support services to be moved to a more appropriately sized location.
“Why?
“In the past, during mass evacuations, the dry floor was put down in Royal LePage (arena) and the main rink was used. Why was that not done this time? Where were the supports for the volunteer network tasked with providing emergency support services?"
His motion won the unanimous approval of his fellow council members, including Coun. Carol Zanon who said she “went through three fires in 24 hours and lived in six different places in the Okanagan over the 13 days I had to be out of our home.
“I heard it all. I sat in this room with other people trying to get services. I encountered a tremendous spirit of kindness and cooperation and compassion from complete strangers but I was not pleased with some of the inadequacies I saw and I would like us to have a good look at all of that.”
de Jong’s motion also called for a review of the region’s emergency operations plan, which has not been updated since 2020, to see what worked and what could be done better.
READ MORE: West Kelowna politician calls for public review of wildfire emergency operations
Mayor Gord Milsom, who is vice-chair of the Regional District of Central Okanagan, noted the board is looking at options to “de-brief” but fully supported the idea of presenting an opportunity not only for the public to share their experiences but, also, city staff and volunteers.
“Certainly there were cracks and stresses in emergency support services,” he said. “Unfortunately many many of our residents felt that pain with the long waits and delays and what not.”
de Jong said many people had to wait three to four days to register and, at least one, had to wait eight days.
While the province will do its own review of the McDougall Creek Wildfire, de Jong pointed out that it will not likely overlap into what the region and emergency services had control over.
“There are some grey lines in my understanding of emergency support services versus what the regional district does and the coordination patterns there,” Coun. Jason Friesen said. “Where did we get push back? Where didn’t we get pushback and got compliance? Where did the district fall down? Where did emergency support services fall down.
“Our staff have a story to tell about what happened. Where they were supported and where they weren’t supported. What walls did they hit? What walls didn’t they hit?”
There also needs to be a mechanism to take the findings of the inquiry back to the province and push for changes, Friesen said.
“What happed with emergency support services here in West Kelowna does not meet the definition of a gold standard,” de Jong said. “But it should.”
de Jong wants the inquiry to get going quickly while the events of the wildfire are fresh in people’s minds.
The next regional district board meeting is Oct. 19.
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