- timely firefighting help;
- access to fire hydrant water for firefighting;
- land and water access to necessaries, including food, water and fuel;
- adequate prior notification when Forestry or Firefighting personnel set fires in the area;
- notification to affected people when fires threaten lands and residences.
- freedom for the residents--those who stayed behind--to move about as needed, to help one another, to allow them to get supplies and machinery where and when needed to put out the remaining fires.
- a thorough investigation into who gave the order for the back burn on a day when high winds were predicted; who gave the order that essentially prohibits residents from helping other residents to fight the fires; who gave the orders for police to block supplies.
Help controlling and extinguishing fires threatening Shuswap residents’ homes and lands is reported to have been slow and intermittent, with fire crews being taken off the Shuswap fire and transferred back onto the Kelowna fire.
Furthermore, residents have reported that in one instance a fire crew stood by, refusing to assist after having been ordered to stay put, leaving residents to protect their homes on their own. Fortunately, said fire crew eventually gave in to reason and compassionate common-sense and lent their hands to putting out the spot fires as they arose. Equally disturbing is the fact that police have been blocking and continue to block land and water access to residents attempting to bring in necessary supplies to those who have chosen to remain and protect their homes. Fire hydrants have been shut off preventing access to water for firefighting.
Police ought to be concentrating their efforts on protecting vital fire equipment and preventing looting. Police should not be keeping food, water, and fuel from those who are endeavouring to save their own and their neighbours’ homes—such obstruction constitutes a real and avoidable threat to their survival.
Community Concerns
A Celista Creek resident reports that help from fire fighters has not been readily available. On Aug. 17 at about 4 p.m., the resident claims that forestry and firefighter personnel apparently set a back-burn fire approximately 15 kilometres from the end of Meadow Creek Road in Celista, at a time when strong winds were forecast for the area, and without notifying Celista residents. By midnight, the resident says, the fire had spread to the Meadow Creek property of the resident. When the resident sought help from nearby firefighters, the resident was initially told that although the firemen wanted to help, they had orders to “sit,” the resident claims. Residents, eventually assisted by firefighters, were able to, at least temporarily, control the blaze. The report claims that police are now blocking land and water access, preventing residents who have stayed on their properties from receiving necessary supplies of gas, food, and water.
It is difficult to independently verify these claims. However, while it is important to recognize the difficulties involved in managing emergency situations, and while hard-working crews on the front lines should be commended, reports that residents are not receiving timely help from available firefighters should be looked into and rectified. It’s not helpful that an inexplicably excessive police presence has been deployed to prevent community members, who have chosen to remain and defend their homes, from receiving necessary supplies.
- a/ fire threat notification;
- b/ timely firefighting help;
- c/ water for firefighting from functioning fire hydrants;
- d/ access to necessaries;
- e/ freedom to move supplies and machinery unimpeded by authorities;
- f/ answers regarding orders given to back burn, to prohibit volunteer efforts, to block supplies.
