B.C.’s Minister of Public Safety reminds people that evacuation orders are mandatory

Aug 6, 2021 | 1:52 PM

As the White Rock Lake wildfire continues to grow, putting people’s properties and lives at risk, the B.C. government is calling on the public to follow all evacuation alerts and orders.

“If your First Nation or local government issues an evacuation alert for your property, you need to prepare to be able to leave on a moment’s notice,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General.

“If an evacuation order is issued for your home, follow all instructions and leave the area immediately.”

He said people should not hesitate, because the fire is aggressive and is moving quickly, which may lead to escape routes being blocked and fire crews having to retreat to protect themselves.

The reminder for people to follow all evacuation orders came following reports there were a small number of people who ignored the orders Thursday, and were overwhelmed by the fast moving fire and needed to be rescued by the fire crews.

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“Let me be clear: staying behind in an evacuated area not only risks your own lives and the lives of your family, it also risks the lives of the responders tasked with fighting the fire. No property is worth risking lives,” said Farnworth.

The minister went on to say fire crews need support, not to be hindered, and the public needs to follow all evacuation orders so the firefighters can focus on working on the front lines, not evacuating people who should have already left.

Along with urging people to follow all evacuation alerts and orders, Farnworth also reminds people not to interfere with firefighting operations.

“[The public] needs to avoid doing things like going out on the Okanagan Lake and boating close to get to a fire and interrupting helicopters that are trying to grab water,” said Farnworth.

“Or putting a drone in the air thinking ‘Oh, isn’t this great to take a picture of the fire?’ when what they’re doing is really hindering the fighting of that fire, and putting crews lives in danger and also hindering the ability of the firefighters to do their job. They need to follow the direction put out by the fire service,” the minister added.

Farnworth noted those in the B.C. Wildfire Service are experts and don’t take issuing evacuations lightly, saying it’s imperative that people follow the guidance of the service to protect themselves and their families. He also said the firefighters on the front lines are experts and should be left to fight the fires and not have to focus their efforts on evacuating people who should have left well before the crews arrived.

The White Rock Lake wildfire is currently estimated to be 45,000 hectares in size, and just five kilometres west of Westside Road, which led the Regional District of Central Okanagan to issue evacuation orders for a number of properties Friday morning.

by Liam Verster

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