The Columbia Shuswap Regional District has launched a community engagement process to gather suggestions for improvements for the 2024 wildfire season.
The regional district announced it will be organizing a series of in-person and virtual events to hear from communities about their experiences during the Bush Creek East wildfire. The in-person events will be facilitated by independent consultant Monogram Communications which, after the meetings, will compile a report titled What We Heard, to be shared with the CSRD board and the public.
The CSRD said it is undertaking this exercise now so it can implement some, “but likely not all” suggestions this year.
The sessions are to help the CSRD: learn how people received information during the wildfire; share information about the CSRD’s role during an emergency; receive feedback on how things were managed; collect information on how to improve the CSRD’s preparedness for future incidents; and offer resources including FireSmart tips and personal preparedness tools.
“We recognize that there are valid community concerns regarding rebuilding, environmental damage and geotechnical hazards,” said the CSRD. “These concerns are not the focus of this engagement process, which is designed to look back at last year’s wildfire experience. Moving forward, some of these ongoing issues will be addressed later on by the CSRD or other agencies.”
The first of the in-person meetings is on Thursday, March 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sorrento Memorial Hall. Other dates are as follows: Saturday, March 9, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at North Shuswap Elementary; Sunday, March 10, 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Lakeview Community Centre (Anglemont); and Monday, March 11, 6 to 8 p.m. at Quaaout Lodge. The virtual meetings will be on Wednesday, March 13 and Thursday, March 14, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. People wishing to attend the meetings are asked to register in advance.
In addition to the meetings, the CSRD has already launched a related survey. It delves into such things as communications, evacuation orders and emergency preparedness.
For more information, and to register for the meetings, visit csrd.civilspace.io/en/projects/community-conversation-bush-creek-east-wildfire.
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