By Cheryl Jahn

Time to prepare for emergencies

May 3, 2022 | 2:33 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – There are already fire bans in place in 100 Mile House. This is a unique time of year in this part of the province when the spring freshet can cause flooding, but there is a risk of fire. It has local government officials urging homeowners to prepare.

“A lot of fires or a lot, a lot of homes that have been lost, are ignited through embers that are flying,” explains Paige Hicks, Fire and Public Safety Educator. “Roofs are obviously much more susceptible with a larger surface area. Keep those gutters clean. That way if any embers hit the house itself, it’s a little bit more protection. And keeping that grass really short prevents a fire from working its way up to the house.”

The Province is expanding the use of the Alert Ready system in B.C. beyond tsunami warnings and Amber Alerts to also include imminent threats from floods and wildfires.

The Regional District of Fraser Fort George has had an alert system called “Connect Rocket” in place for years.

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“Our public alerting system is something we put in place a few years ago as a way to notify residents that live in our rural areas, in our Electoral Areas, about impending emergencies,” explains Renee McCloskey with the Regional District of Fraser Fort George. “Things we need to notify them of immediately, something that requires them to evacuate.”

And the City of Prince George will be joining the regional district with that same system later this month. The regional district’s system sets aside three zones and the City’s will be similar.

“People will be able will be able to go to either the City of the Regional District’s website, sign up for their evacuation zone which is printed on the back of the garbage map,” she explains. “And if there were a major event, a state of local emergency, an evacuation alert or an evacuation order, we would actually be issuing a text message or a phone message. It will actually give a phone message as well.”

But while the emergency alert will give residents some notification, Tanya Spooner says emergencies can pop up suddenly and people need to be ready.

“What we’ve seen in the past may not be what we see this year,” says Spooner. “It may not be what we see regionally but we definitely want to be ready.”

A test of B.C.’s wireless alerting system will be conducted at 1:55 p.m. Wednesday afternoon as part of the national Alert Ready system to improve public safety in the event of an emergency.

The City of Prince George’s alert system is pending and if you want to sign on to the Regional District’s system, go to http://rdffg.connectrocket.com