Kelowna lacks evacuation plan for major fire

Completion of plan one of the priorities for the city in the next five years

Kelowna needs a municipal evacuation plan in case another major wildfire reaches the city, recommends a report going to city council on Monday.

The 2022 community wildfire resiliency plan, effective for the next fire years, provides “an updated action plan for proactive protection of our community, infrastructure and natural landscape,” said urban forestry technician Tara Bergeson.

“We are located in a fire-dependent region that has historically relied on frequent, light-intensity fires to maintain the health of our ecosystem. Years of suppressed fire and fuel buildup has led to higher risk of severe fires when they occur, resulting in increased impact to landscape and more difficult conditions for suppression,” she said.

“Climate change exacerbates this situation through fluctuating weather patterns that impact fire behaviour, particularly prolonged drought and increased summer temperatures.”

Kelowna has a number of forest interface and intermix neighbourhoods that require comprehensive wildfire mitigation actions, she noted. “Wildfires pose a risk to homes in these areas directly from adjacent forest or grassland, or through ember showers that can travel up to two kilometers from active fire.”

The city has made progress through the development of a dedicated FireSmart webpage, updating its urban forest management strategy, interagency collaboration and support for citizens removing hazardous vegetation from their private properties, she said.

Among 43 recommendations, the priorities for the next five years include completion of a municipal evacuation plan and FireSmart assessments of critical infrastructure, continued multiagency wildland fire training within the Kelowna Fire Department and completion of an assessment for fire-suppression requirements for all four community water suppliers in the city.

Like the previous community wildfire protection plans, the new strategic plan defines the risk from wildfires in an identified area, identifies measures necessary to mitigate those risks and outlines a plan of action to be implemented.

Kelowna completed its first plan in 2004 following the 2003 fire season and in response to recommendations made by the FireStorm 2003 provincial review. Updates followed in 2011 and 2016.

Many of the 47 prioritized recommendations of the 2016 plan have been addressed including ongoing emergency preparedness for emergency evacuations, a municipal policy and planning review and fuels management activities on both public and private lands, said Bergeson. “Of particular note, in the past five years, the city has completed approximately 125 hectares of forest fuel mitigation including all of Knox Mountain Park East, completed a review of the wildfire development permit process, developed a access plan for strategic suppression planning, and implemented a pilot targeted-grazing project near Gallagher’s to address grass fuels,” she said.