By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
The wildfire on Canoe Road, which prompted a short-lived evacuation order for nearby properties on Saturday evening, is under control as of Monday afternoon. The Regional District did not post about the evacuation order on its website or Facebook page, creating confusion for Valemount residents who were unsure whether they were under evacuation alert that evening.
The response from the Regional District’s Valemount Fire Rescue Department was “outstanding,” said Valemount Mayor Owen Torgerson. The Village was in close communication with the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness from early on, he added.
“Planning for a potential order and alert areas took some time, but in the grand scheme of the provincial machine, I feel it went very well,” Torgerson said.
The Village will have an after-action debrief to determine how future emergency responses could be improved, and identify what went well, he added.
According to a statement from the Ministry, the Province’s Northwest Regional Emergency Operations Centre received notice of the fire from BC Wildfire Service (BCWS) at around 4:25 p.m. – under half an hour after the fire was discovered. BCWS was undergoing a tactical evacuation at the time, the Ministry said, meaning emergency responders went door-to-door informing people of the need to evacuate.
The Village and Regional District of Fraser-Fort George requested a BC Emergency Alert at about 5:55 p.m. to ensure people were aware of the evacuation order, according to the Ministry’s statement. The Emergency Alert was broadcast at 6:19 p.m.
Emergency Alerts are different from evacuation alerts, the Ministry told The Goat – they are a mass notification, not necessarily an instruction to be ready to leave in case of evacuation. While District staff had told The Goat properties outside the order area may be put under evacuation alert later that evening, no such evacuation alert was issued.
Once wildfire response efforts seemed successful, BCWS recommended downgrading the evacuation order to an evacuation alert. The alert was rescinded on Monday evening, after the fire was listed as under control on the BCWS dashboard.
The Province may participate in debriefs of Saturday’s emergency response if invited by local governments, according to the Ministry’s statement.
A learning moment for the District
Dannielle Alan, Regional District Director for Electoral Area H – which encompasses Valemount and Cedarside – said Saturday’s response was one of many learning experiences the District has had this year. Many of her constituents took to Facebook to express confusion about the situation, as the evacuation order was not shared to the Regional District’s website or Facebook page.
“I can see where there was confusion,” she said of Saturday’s response. “We were trying to get the messages out, trying to figure out how much of the message had already gotten out, and then had to say, ‘No, you don’t have to leave.’ It was challenging.”
Cedarside residents were instructed to leave in anticipation of aggressive fire behaviour, she said. When the fire was extinguished quickly with the help of two water bombers and helicopters from BCWS, the order was rescinded.
“I can see how some people felt it was a confusing and scary time,” Alan said. “I highly recommend people reach out to our emergency management division because they’ve got all sorts of tools to help people prepare and maybe make it less scary.”
When asked about the lack of a post on Facebook or the District’s website, Alan said that feedback would be taken into account while debriefing Saturday’s emergency response.
“That was a deficiency, 100 per cent,” she said. “That’s really where I think we can put some learning to use, just making sure that we have someone dedicated to updating the website… putting in some redundancies and backups to make sure our online communications are relevant and current.”
Additionally, residents who were signed up for Voyent Alert! – the Village’s mass alert system, which residents can voluntarily register for online – did not receive an alert about the evacuation order. The Village chose to use the BC Emergency Alert system to reach as many people as possible, according to CAO Anne Yanciw. Additionally, if the provincial system hadn’t been used, both Valemount and the RDFFG would have issued alerts, introducing the potential for confusion and conflicting information.
In an email to The Goat, RDFFG Manager of Communications and Culture Hilary Erasmus said the Regional District has not received feedback from residents about a lack of information during Saturday’s events.
According to Erasmus, the Regional District chose to have the Province issue an Emergency Alert for the same reasons the Village did: to reach a wide array of people quickly and clearly. The evacuation order was downgraded to an alert soon afterwards, and residents were notified of the downgrade through the District’s Public Alerting System, website and social media, according to Erasmus.
“After a dynamic event, like the one experienced on Saturday, the Regional District’s typical practice is to reflect on how the event unfolded and identify areas for improvement in preparedness and response for any future events,” Erasmus wrote.
Residents can sign up for the District’s Public Alerting System at rdffg.ca, she added.
