Don’t wait until evacuation
Madison Reeve
As wildfire activity continues across British Columbia, West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund is urging residents not to wait until an evacuation order is issued to prepare a grab-and-go bag.
“It is always challenging when we have to ask people to leave their homes in the face of a wildfire,” Brolund said. “Sometimes our best tool to fight a wildfire is to ask people to get out of the way.”
Brolund says the success of any evacuation depends on how prepared people are before firefighters come knocking.
“Getting prepared in advance is something we urge people to do,” he said. “Part of being prepared in advance is having a plan, and part of that plan is having a grab-and-go kit.”
The kit doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it should include the essentials needed for the first 72 hours away from home.
He recommends packing a change of clothes, prescription medications, passports and other important documents, including home insurance papers.
It’s also recommended you carry cash in small bills in case debit and credit card systems are unavailable, along with an emergency blanket, a small first aid kit and a battery-powered radio with extra batteries.
Brolund says families should also include a written emergency plan that outlines where they’ll go if they’re forced to evacuate and how they’ll stay in touch if they become separated.
For those planning to pack only after an evacuation order is issued, Brolund says that could be a costly mistake.
“People tend to think, ‘This will never happen to me,’ or, ‘I’ll just take care of it then because there’ll be time,'” he said. “As we’ve seen in the last few days, unfortunately, this is happening in more and more places. It’s happening when people have little to no time to prepare.”
His message is simple: prepare now.
“As we head into the weekend, this is a great time to throw that grab-and-go kit together,” Brolund said. “It’s one less thing you’re going to have to worry about if that knock does come at your door.”
