Evacuation Alert for area south of Renata to include Shields
By Regional District of Central Kootenay
Yesterday, the Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) issued an Evacuation Alert for nine addresses located south of Renata on Lower Arrow Lake due to wildfires. The community of Shields, located further south along the lake, is now included in the alert area to align with the area identified by BC Wildfire Service.
A map of the amended alert area follows, and it can also be found on the RDCK website here.
“While Shields was not originally included in the alert area map, notification was hand-delivered to households there last night, and we have amended our alert map to include that area,” said Andrew Bellerby, Director of the RDCK Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and Regional Fire Chief. “If the situation worsens and the original alert area is ordered to evacuate for their safety, or if access roads are closed, people in the Shields area may also have to evacuate.”
Under an Evacuation Alert, residents, summer residents, campers and visitors should be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice. It is recommended to prepare an emergency kit and ensure preparedness in the event that the situation worsens, and an Evacuation Order is enforced.
There are three fires currently clustered and active in the area, totaling approximately 85 hectares. The largest, the South of Renata Creek wildfire (N52549), is in the Bulldog Mountain area, about five kilometres south of Renata. It is being monitored closely by BC Wildfire Service. The other two fires are known as South of Renata Creek 2 (N52550) and East of Dog Creek (N52497).
Updates will be provided via the RDCK website, Facebook and Twitter as more information becomes available.
For more information:
· Current RDCK Evacuation Alerts, Orders and Rescinds: https://rdck.ca/EN/main/services/emergency-management/evacuation-order-and-alert-page.htmlor call 250-352-7701 / 1-866-522-7701.
· Sign up for RDCK Emergency Notification System to receive notification of Evacuation Orders. Go to www.rdck.caand select “Emergency Alerts” from the home page, or go to the notification system sign-up page at https://rdckemergency.connectrocket.com.
· BC Wildfire – Interactive Map of Current Fires: http://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ef6f11c8c36b42c29e103f65dbcd7538
· Public weather alerts for BC from Environment Canada: https://weather.gc.ca/warnings/index_e.html?prov=bc
· Highway closures and conditions from DriveBC: http://www.drivebc.ca/
· For the BC Air Quality Health Index: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/epd/bcairquality/readings/aqhi-table.xml
· For tips about living with smoky skies and wildfires from the Interior Health Authority: https://www.interiorhealth.ca/YourEnvironment/Emergency/MajorEvents/Pages/default.aspx
· Emergency preparedness information and tips from the Prepared BC website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-preparedness-response-recovery/preparedbc
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