CITY OF WEST KELOWNA COMMUNITY UPDATE: AUGUST 21, 2023

McDougall Creek Wildfire

Monday, August 21, 2023

The Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO), in partnership with the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), is hosting daily media conferences from August 21 – 25, 2023 to keep the public and media informed about the wildfires in the region.

Following the daily news conferences, the City of West Kelowna will be issuing highlights about the impacts to City of West Kelowna services from the McDougall Creek Wildfire.

For the week of August 21, as the wildfire is still very active, these updates will be issued to the community daily. Following that, these updates will be issued in conjunction with a return and recovery plan.

For all McDougall Creek Wildfire information, contact cordemergency.ca.

McDougall Creek Wildfire is Considered Not Held

• BC Wildfire together with over 500 firefighters from many (many!) municipalities are aggressively battling the wildfire, which today is considered ‘not held.’ This means we are still very much in an active wildfire stage.

• A coordinated return and recovery plan between the EOC and the City of West Kelowna is underway. Updates will be issued by cordemergency.ca followed by City-specific information. Please ensure you have subscribed to receive the City’s news and alerts at westkelownacity.ca/subscribe.

• All agencies are thanking the public for their patience. The Canada Task Force 1 team is on the ground performing difficult and dangerous tasks, such as mapping and identifying damaged and lost structures (with the challenges of melted street signs, house numbers missing, power lines down, etc). They are also calling in active fires, conducting searches and many other essential services. This will take time and the return and recovery plan will occur in stages when it is safe to do so.

• As reported today from Chief Brolund of West Kelowna Fire Rescue, a minimum of 50 structures have been lost and/or damaged so far in West Kelowna. This number will increase as Canada Task Force 1 continues their operation. Updates will be provided by Chief Brolund at the daily news conferences and through this Community Updates.

View Today’s News Conference

The recorded news conference from today, August 21, can be viewed below.

OTHER NOTABLES

Emergency Support Services (ESS) Queue System Provided by ESS

To help make the Emergency Support Services registration process easier at Royal Lepage Place, ESS has provided a new queue system. Please note this is not a City service so please contact cordemergency.ca for more information.

• Once you have registered online at https://ess.gov.bc.ca, if you need more services you must attend a reception centre. This queue service is currently only open at Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna.

• The registration desk will give you a coloured card with your queue number. Each colour holds up to 100 numbers.

• You can check where you are in the queue by visiting “ESS Queue” link on the front page at cordemergency.ca/ESSQueue

• On the webpage, you will see the colour the registration desk is currently serving and the upcoming colour block.

• This will help to give you an idea when you need to return to the registration area to sit down with an ESS volunteer who can help you.

Evacuees are encouraged to connect with family and friends for temporary accommodation. Those who have a place to stay should still register at https://ess.gov.bc.ca, and indicate if additional supports outside of lodging are needed. After registering online, evacuees who need lodging or others supports can attend the reception centre nearest them to speak with an ESS volunteer. The three reception centres are:

• Royal LePage Place at 2760 Cameron Road in West Kelowna

• Kal Tire Place at 3445 43 Avenue in Vernon

• Princess Margaret Secondary School, 120 Green Ave West in Penticton

All reception centres are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Please note, the queue is currently only available at the Royal LePage Place reception centre in West Kelowna. The reception centres are experiencing significant volumes of people registering and volunteers are working to process applications for support as quickly as possible. ESS teams will get to everyone’s applications and patience is appreciated. Currently, the priority is for those needing lodging and accommodation. People who have other supports with family and friends are not required to visit a reception centre.

CITY’S PREVIOUS UPDATES

On August 20, the City issued a comprehensive news release to launch its communications in collaboration with the EOC, along with important service and water notices. Please visit the City’s McDougall Creek Wildfire webpage at westkelownacity.ca/citywildfire to learn more.

CITY’S NEXT UPDATE

The next Community Update will be issued on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Until further notice, please direct all inquiries to cordemergency.ca or call 250-469-8490 (local) or 1-877-569-8490 (toll-free).