Water and snacks will be provided, as well as safety glasses, hi-vis vests and gloves, should you require them. Volunteers should be prepared for sloping and uneven ground and appropriate footwear should be worn.
The PRCS FireSmart Coordinator will be on hand to answer questions and will be providing a Hot Dog BBQ starting at 12:30 pm for all our hungry volunteers.
Are you looking to learn more about FireSmart and what you can do to protect your home and community?
Join us at our upcoming clean-up event and learn what you can do to FireSmart your property. You can also visit the PRCEMC website at: PRCEMC.ca/FireSmart for more information and FireSmart resources.
CLEAN-UP EVENT: Commonage Neighbourhood
DATE: SATURDAY, May 18, 2024
The FireSmart Committee is excited to announce that the Commonage neighbourhood will be the site of our next FireSmart clean-up event. The area to be cleaned is the common property and park area directly below the Dog Park.
The committee is currently looking for volunteers to assist with the clean-up and welcome all helping hands. Our collective efforts will help make our community a safer place to live.
Water and snacks will be provided, as well as safety glasses, hi-vis vests and gloves, should you require them. Volunteers should be prepared for sloping and uneven ground and appropriate footwear should be worn.
A safety orientation will be held at the dog park entrance at 8:30am prior to the clean-up event getting underway. We hope to see you there for a fun morning of FireSmart!
The PRCS FireSmart Coordinator will be on hand to answer questions and will be providing a Hot Dog BBQ starting at 12:30 pm for all our hungry volunteers.
EVENT DETAILS
DATE: Saturday, May 18, 2024
TIME: 9:00am – 1:00pm
LOCATION: Meet beside the entrance to the District on Diamond Way
The Province of British Columbia conducts a test of the emergency alert system twice a year. The last test of the Alert Ready system occurred on November 15, 2023 at 1:55 pm PST. The next test will occur on May 8, 2024 at 1:55 pm PST.
The PRCS & City of Vernon will conduct a full 3-minute test of the Wildfire Evacuation Siren at 1:55pm on this date in tandem with the Province of BC’s Alert Ready System.
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.
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.
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.
Courtesy of MGH Photography
This is why we have installed the Predator Ridge Wildfire Evacuation Siren!
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.
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.
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
BC Wildfire Service firefighting crews are not trained or equipped to fight structural fires. However, we can deploy structure protection specialists whose function is to help protect homes and other types of buildings that may be threatened by wildfire.
