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Gabriola Emergency Prepardness

No your eyes aren’t deceiving you! Smoke from BC’s many wildfires have shrouded Gabriola Island for the past few days and in many a mind’s eye has created a martian like atmosphere on the island.

Alien planets aside, with our Extreme Fire Hazard rating coupled with frequent news reports of the risk of wildfires, the smell of smoke in the air provided the catalyst for a standing room only community meeting on July 5th with representatives from the Gabriola Fire Department, Gabriola Emergency Social Services and the RCMP. The key messages delivered at the meeting were that:

Gabriola is well served by our emergency responders (GVFD, BCAS, RCMP) and volunteers with Gabriola Emergency Social Services; and,
Individuals, families and neighbourhoods can do a lot for themselves in terms of emergency preparedness that will serve them well in the unlikely event of a major emergency.

There are several important sources of information that the Lynch Group highly recommends that residents and visitors to Gabriola Island review to learn more about emergency preparedness and the services available on Gabriola Island. In addition these websites provide very useful information on how individuals, families and neighborhoods can prepare themselves for an emergency; be it a wildfire or an earthquake.

Gabriola Fire Department
http://gabriolafire.ca/learn/wildfire/

Emergency Social Services Gabriola
http://www.essgabriola.com/

Wildfire Management Branch
http://engage.gov.bc.ca/bcwildfire/

RDN Emergency Preparedness
http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms.asp?wpID=141

The forecast is for the smoke to clear in the coming days with a return to the beautiful coastal summer that we all love on Gabriola Island. In the meantime we hope everyone takes this opportunity to develop an emergency plan for themselves and their family, to talk to your neighbours and think about a neighbourhood strategy. As lifelong island residents we can attest to Gabriolan’s generosity, resiliency, care and support for fellow islanders.

Now…where are those aliens? We’ll leave that for another day.