Ahead of wildfire season, North Okanagan fire departments came together at Vernon's Predator Ridge for some training on how to handle wildland interface fires this past week.
Vernon Fire Rescue Services (VFRS) hosted the training exercises from March 25-28, with roughly 70 firefighters taking part in a program that blended classroom instruction with realistic fire response scenarios, focused on enhancing firefighters' skills to manage fires in complex wildland-urban interface areas.
“This training is an important tool for ensuring the safety of our firefighters and the communities they serve,” said Fire Chief David Lind. “By bringing firefighters together to share knowledge and practice critical skills, we’re enhancing our ability to respond effectively to wildland interface fires.”
The training was developed in collaboration with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and was funded through grants from the federal government.
Wildfires are an increasing threat in interface areas due to climate change and urban sprawl. Structures are at risk from fires that originate in the wildland areas they border, and wildfires that reach interface areas have the potential to spread quickly with devastating impacts, according to the IAFF.
Nestled right up against a vast forest, Predator Ridge is a community that typifies what firefighters mean when they refer to a wildland-urban interface, and was therefore an ideal place for the training. Predator Ridge residents gladly offered up their properties to be used for the training.
"The last probably 10 years we've had multiple major fires, so this is basically teaching firefighters strategies, tactics for dealing with wildfires that enter into communities," said Brad Crawford, a VFRS training officer.
Crawford said other training initiatives have been done over the years, but VFRS believes it's best to update its training as often as possible.
"The reason we chose (Predator Ridge) is because it is very susceptible to wildfire. It is built in the urban interface, we have chutes that come up from (Kalamalka Lake) with quite a bit of wind, so if there was a fire it would push it up this direction," Crawford said.
Crawford said another vulnerability at Predator Ridge is that there is "only one way in, one way out," and trying to evacuate all of its residents in a short amount of time in the event of a fire would be a real challenge.
Vernon, BX, Spallumcheen, Armstrong, Coldstream, SilverStar, Penticton and Enderby firefighters all took part in the training.
Part of the training was about coordination between these different firefighting departments. Full-time firefighter and instructor Cody Grier said it's important to have all of these departments on the same page.
"We want everybody to be able to use the same tactics, speak the same language, so that when we call them and say, 'we've got a really big fire in Vernon, do you guys want to come and help us out?' they know what we're asking for, and then when we get on scene and we're working with them, we're all doing the same kind of thing," Grier said. "Working together not only gives us familiarity with everybody but it also makes us a good partner if they ask for our help, too."
The training program's head instructor, Steve Gibbon, came from Austin, Texas to help with the training. A firefighter for more than 30 years, Gibbon has seen his fair share of major fires back home, including one that destroyed 1,700 homes in 2011. He said that fire acted as a catalyst for creating more robust urban interface firefighting efforts among local fire departments.
