Dear Neighbour,
We wanted to provide you with a community update relating to the current wildfire situation in the Okanagan.
CURRENT UPDATE & PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
There has been no change in risk levels at Predator Ridge. Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) continues to be positioned at Fire Station #3 at Predator Ridge, as a command post with Deputy Chief and crew. The team continues to proactively monitor our community through 30-minute patrols and Fire Station #3 will be staffed 24-hours/day until the threat levels drop.
As per the latest emergency release from the Regional District of the Central Okanagan, a stage 4 water restriction has been put in place throughout the region. We are not under a restriction at Predator Ridge, however, we strongly encourage you to reduce your water consumption. This will ensure that if required, we can conserve the water in our reservoir for fire fighting purposes. See below for a link to the CORD emergency news conference for full details.
UPDATES AND WHERE TO FIND CURRENT INFORMATION
CITY OF VERNON RESOURCES
It is important to keep yourself updated with the latest information from official sources. If you haven’t already, please register to receive alerts from COV directly through:
- The Alertable Community Notifications system, which will provide you with emergency notifications including evacuation alerts or orders that are issued within the City’s municipal boundary. Learn more at: Vernon.ca/Alertable
- Register to receive alerts from the City of Vernon directly to your inbox by subscribing at: Vernon.ca/Subscribe
- Follow the City of Vernon social media channels (@CityOfVernon) on Facebook and Instagram.
CENTRAL OKANAGAN EMERGENCY OPERATIONS
The current wildfires in the Okanagan are all located in the Regional District of the Central Okanagan. For up-to-date information please visit CordEmergency.ca. You can also follow them on Twitter (@CO_Emerg).
For more details on the fire situation, we encourage you to watch the official Emergency News conference released at 11am this morning. This can be viewed at the link below or via their YouTube channel (@regionaldistrict).
GOVERNMENT OF BC
Earlier this afternoon, the Government of BC released their BC Wildfire Update. This can be viewed on the link below or via their YouTube channel (@GovernmentofBC)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT EVACUATION ALERTS & ORDERS
We have received a lot of questions regarding what do to in the case of an Evacuation Alert or Order.
As per the Government of BC, if an Evacuation Alert is in place, be ready to leave on short notice and take the following steps:
- Move patio furniture, cushions and door mats indoors.
- Connect garden hoses and fill large containers with water, such as pools, hot tubs and garbage cans. This can assist firefighters and help slow advancing flames.
- Ensure your house number is visible. This will help firefighters locate your home quickly.
- Disconnect automatic garage door openers so doors can be opened by hand if you lose power.
- Clean around the exterior of your property and remove any dry debris in your yard and if possible, clean out your gutters.
- If you have a roof sprinkler system, please have it set up, but do not turn on your water. In the case of an emergency, fire fighters will turn the system on. Leaving your water running puts our entire community at risk. We run off a gravity fed reservoir, which requires pumps to fill from the lake. If those pumps lose power or fail, we will be left with only the water currently in the reservoir.
Government of BC Emergency Evacuee Guidance
THE EMERGENCY EVACUATION SIREN
NOW MORE THAN EVER, we are grateful to have our local evacuation siren installed and a tool readily available for our community. As a reminder, in the event that we are placed on an Evacuation Order, we will be notified:
- through the Alertable app and above channels
- through command post personnel (boots on the ground)
- and our local siren will be activated
HAVE YOU MADE YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE SIREN?Due to some innovative cost savings, and further in-kind contributions by Predator Ridge, we are now only $6,000 short of our needed funding for the siren.
If you have not had an opportunity to contribute, we still need all members of our community to do their part and CONTRIBUTE to this invaluable community resource.
PREDATOR RIDGE ONSITE AMENITIES & STAFFING CHALLENGES
We are currently being challenged with staffing levels due to evacuations in Kelowna and Lake Country, where a significant amount of our team resides. We have had to make the decision to limit our onsite amenities as follows:
- Range Lounge & Grill remains open with a limited menu. We will be closing at 8:00pm this evening.
- Pallino’s is closed until further notice.
- Turning Point and Outlook Cabin are closed until further notice.
- Commonage Market is well stocked with our chef-prepared frozen foods from both Range Lounge & Grill and Pallino’s. Hours of operation remain as normal, open from 6:00am – 8:00pm.
Our focus is to ensure the safety of our community we will provide you with further updates when we receive them. We encourage you to stay connected with official sources, as provided above.
Sincerely,
The Predator Ridge Management Team
AND
Your Predator Ridge Community Safety (PRCS) Committee
Gordon Wilson
Jane Toppozini
Karen Grimsrud
Robert Scott
Gord Ball