Wednesday evening - about 23 people consisting of the general public, CRD Electoral Area Directors for Areas D, E, F, the CRD Manager of Protective Services and Cariboo Fire Center Staff were all present to have a discussion as a result of the wildfires last summer
The CRD presentation consisted of how decisions are arrived at on evacuation orders or alerts, how ESS (Emergency Social Services) works, how to apply, how long the benefits last. Also discussed was the permitting system to be deployed this year which could allow a resident to re-enter a evacuation zone under strict conditions as well as work in the unincorporated communities will occur this year to get them ready for the upcoming wildfire season
The Cariboo Fire Center presentation included discussions of Wildfires - by the numbers, 2010 vs 2009(ie - total ha burned, how many buildings lost, how many fires in the province were occuring), protocols on how a fire is to be attacked, which tools are deployed and when they are deployed, etc
A Question and Answer period ensued which included discussion on when residents can receive info on the CRD Radio Transmitter (answer - that work is on-going), start of campfire ban (answer - May 2 but it is dependent on ground conditions), are Heritage buildings taken into consideration when they are putting wildfire/interface fires out (answer - yes)
However, what I found strange is out of 22, only 6 members of the general public were in attendance. Compare that to the 50-60 who showed up last summer for the wildfire info meetings in WL Council Chambers when the City had a fire literally on its' doorstep in the Glendale industrial area (Tolko - Soda Creek & West Fraser Sawmill area)
Finally - conspicuous in their absence was every member of Williams Lake City Council and their Staff which I found very disappointing, given this meeting was well advertised for weeks and certainly Staff at WL City Hall should have been aware of it and placed it in Council's "Master Calendar" so at least one member of Council or Staff were there to take notes and brief the rest of Council later as the info presented is important to communicate out to the general public as far as what City of Williams Lake is doing, given the November 2010 wildfire debrief that took place amongst the various agencies and departments in the region
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