Blog
2023 FireSmart Neighbourhood Recognition
Thanks to the dedication and hard work of its resident’s, Predator Ridge has once again been approved as a Recognized FireSmart Neighbourhood by FireSmart Canada.
Predator Ridge has received continuous recognition since the FireSmart program was initiated in 2015 with the first being awarded in 2016.
Way-to-go Predator Ridge!
FireSmart Tip of the Month
Throughout wildfire season, if you are evacuated or planning to be away, remember to bring your door mats inside the house along with any other combustable items such as patio furniture, cushions, umbrellas etc.
The image above was taken after the homeowner returned home following the West Kelowna wildfire. This image shows how easily this home could have burned to the ground.
FireSmart Neighbourhood Cleanup a Huge Success! October 21, 2023
A great big THANK YOU goes out to a group of volunteers from across the Predator Ridge community for giving up their Saturday morning today to FireSmart the area along upper Diamond Way below the dog park.
A tremendous amount of ground fuel was cleaned up and removed into waste disposal bins that were provided by Predator Ridge Resort and the City of Vernon. The collective efforts of these wonderful volunteers will help make our community a safer place to live.
Thank you so much to our volunteers:
- Wes Brassard (CoV)
- Lynn & Howie Brown
- Brad & Linda Campbell
- Michael & Marina Crawford
- Eamonn Deegan
- Grant & Maurlice Hadland
- Charl & Carol Johnson
- Rick Johnston
- Duane & Valorie Kozłowski
- Nicholas & Kirsten Leighton
- Elizabeth & John Lemieux
- Tim Maunder
- Roxy McCrone
- Brian Morgans
- Luiza Muller
- Joe & Bernice Oviatt
- Glen & Kelly Purgavie
- Doris Ritter
- Bev Rosenau
- Barb Schmidke
- Robert Scott
- Greg Smith
- Pat & Theresa Stobbs
- Jane Toppozini
- Breanne Tripp
- Emily Volans
- Gord Wilson
Following the cleanup, BBQ hamburgers and hot dogs were served up to all the hungry workers. Thanks very much to Wes Brassard, City of Vernon FireSmart Coordinator for hosting the BBQ and to Predator Ridge for delivering the BBQ & propane.
Stay tuned for future FireSmart cleanups coming in the Spring of 2024. Our community is working closely with our FireSmart Coordinator at the city of Vernon to keep the FireSmart program actively engaged at Predator Ridge.
Sincerely,
Your Predator Ridge Community Safety Committee (PRCS) FireSmart Team.
Protect your Home from Wildfire
BC is currently in the midst of the worst wildfire season in history. The ongoing presence of wildfire throughout the province, as well as the growing threat throughout the Central Okanagan, reminds us that we need to act now to prevent devastating losses to our own community. There are many steps that you can take around your own homes to help protect them in the event of a wildfire. This includes removing any coniferous vegetation that is in close proximity to your home, keeping your roof and gutters clean, and bringing in all patio furniture and cushions in the event of an evacuation alert.
Following evacuation orders and alerts and getting ready before a wildfire disaster strikes can make a world of a difference. While facing devastating losses in nearby communities it is important to remain proactive in our own. We have attached more resources that you may find helpful at this time. The best thing to do now is prepare. Prepare yourself and your family, your pets, and your property for the possibility of wildfire in our own community. Preparing a grab-and-go bag and knowing your evacuation routes are just a few ways to make sure you’re ready.
Watch How Fast This Fire Moved
Thank you to MGH Photography for compiling this amazing time-lapse video of the McDougall Creek Fire. In just three short hours this fire spread at incredible speed.
This is why we have installed the Predator Ridge Wildfire Evacuation Siren!
Community Safety Update
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
Evacuation Siren Update
Fund the Siren
Thank you in advance for supporting Predator Ridge Community Emergency Management and our Community Safety Program.
It takes all of us, working together, to build a stronger, safer community….
Your PRCEMC Team
Gord Wilson; Jane Toppozini; Karen Grimsrud; Robert Scott
Important Community Message
Predator Ridge Community Emergency Evacuation Siren
HISTORY:
Dear Homeowners,
Our 2021 wildfire season was an exhausting one on many fronts. We experienced unseasonable hot dry weather, a wave of unpredictable forest fires and smoke throughout our entire province. Thankfully, we had a bit of a reprieve this past summer, however forecasted trends in weather patterns show hotter and dryer summers ahead with an increased risk of wildfire.
In an ongoing attempt to keep all our residents safe, Predator Ridge Community Emergency Management Committee (PRCEMC) looked at additional avenues to enhance our community’s safety. We have been working with both Predator Ridge and Sparkling Hill, and we have all agreed that although the current technology of using cell phone and email alerts is effective, it may not be the total solution for our community should the City of Vernon ever need to get an emergency alert out to all the guests, visitors and Predator Ridge residents, especially in the middle of the night.
Additional information can be found on our website: https://prcemc.ca/alert-siren/
PRESENT :
PRCEMC is proud to announce that we have been successful with our proposal to the City of Vernon regarding the acquisition, installation and management of the Predator Ridge Emergency Evacuation Siren (EES). Over the past year we have worked closely with Predator Ridge, Sparkling Hill, and the City of Vernon, and we have all agreed that, although the current technology of using cell phone and email alerts is effective, it may not be the total solution for our community should the City of Vernon ever need to get an evacuation alert out to all guests, visitors and Predator Ridge residents, especially in the middle of the night.
We have looked at other communities that have successfully utilized cell phone and email technology in tandem with an EES to notify their community of imminent danger. Using all these systems together provides far better coverage and peace of mind to all residents.
An updated cost estimate and call for additional bids was undertaken for the acquisition and installation of the EES and related equipment. The final cost of the acquisition and installation is still in line to what had been forecasted at the beginning of the project: $112,000. Based on approximate population estimates of each stakeholder group throughout the fire season (PR Community, PR Resort and Sparkling Hill) we have agreed upon the following fair and equitable contributions to the project.
| STAKEHOLDER | CONTRIBUTION |
|---|---|
| Predator Ridge Residents | 60,000.00 |
| Predator Ridge Resort (Wesbuild) | 30,000.00 |
| Sparkling Hill Resort | 22,000.00 |
| TOTAL PROJECT COST | $112,000.00 |
With approximately 750 households in the community, if each household contributes an amount between $75.00 and $100.00, we could easily reach our target goal of $60,000.
We recognize that not everyone’s financial situation is the same, so we ask that you please support as best you can, and if your circumstances allow for additional funds, we would welcome the support. At the end of the day we are all building a better, safer community together.
The EES is scheduled to be installed in April/May for the start of the 2023 Fire Season.
There will be information and educational sessions held this spring to ensure everyone understands the process and procedures should we find our community in an emergency evacuation situation where the EES would need to be activated.
If you have any questions please email us at: questions@prcemc.ca or visit the Siren Information page.
To provide your contribution, please visit our GoFundMe Page or click on the Donate now button below.
Thank you in advance for supporting Predator Ridge Community Emergency Management and our Community Safety Program.
It takes all of us, working together, to build a stronger, safer community….
Your PRCEMC Team
Gord Wilson; Jane Toppozini; Karen Grimsrud; Robert Scott