Officials urge N.L. residents to prepare for emergency as wildfire season pushes on
3 out-of-control wildfires currently burning in Newfoundland
It's never too early to be prepared in case you have to leave home in a hurry.
That's the advice emergency responders want residents to follow as Newfoundland and Labrador endures a busier than usual wildfire season, which currently has hundreds of people evacuated from their homes and cabins.
David Day, manager of emergency and business preparedness with the City of St. John's, said there are three necessary steps to prepare for an emergency. Two of those, he said, should take place even before an evacuation is called.
"It is very unfortunate that people have to leave their home on a moment's notice, so in order to do that, you need to be prepared prior to," Day told CBC News.
Prepare the home
The first step, he said, is preparing the home as summer approaches.
"If you live in an area where you're close to wooded areas, you got to prep your home," Day said. "You need to go around your property, 10 meters is the recommended distance, 30 feet, and make sure it's clean."
A clean property is one that is free from brush, dead plants and debris. Wood stacked outside should be moved indoors. Old tires and patio furniture, Day said, should be moved away from the house.
The storage area underneath patios and decks should also be cleared.
"We're all commonly storing stuff under our deck, but guess what? That's dry material, and if an ember gets down in between, it's combustible," Day said.
The goal, he said, is to remove anything that a flying ember of fire could ignite.
Emergency kit
Emergencies are unpredictable. During wildfire season, Day said, families should create a plan and an emergency kit that is accessible.
"Have a plan with your family that if we can't get home, where's our meeting point? How are we going to communicate?" Day said.
An emergency kit should contain important documents, prescription medication and enough food and clothing to last three days, Day said. It should be pre-packed in a car when residents learn there are risks of wildfires.
"Your passport, driver's licence, mortgage documents, insurance documents, anything that you deem is necessary that you need to have on your person," he said.
Pet products should also be included for people with animals.
Day also recommends keeping vehicles with more than half a tank of gas.
Following evacuation orders
The last stage takes place when an evacuation is called.
Day said, keep your cell phone charged and follow orders given by the municipality and emergency personnel.
"If they tell you to take a particular direction, depending on where you live, you should do that. And the reason is that you're trying to balance out the traffic," he said.
Residents should also register at an emergency facility or by phone, where evacuees are instructed to go.
"That is for accountability, so we know who's left the community and who may not [have] left the community," Day said.
Learning from Jasper, Alta.
Richard Ireland, mayor of Jasper, Alta., said pre-planning for wildfire events is what saved 70 per cent of his town after a destructive wildfire burned through the area last summer.
"We did an awful lot of pre-planning preparation, including mitigation efforts on the landscape, because we knew the risk here may be different in other communities," Ireland told CBC News.
But, he said, residents should be prepared for the aftermath of a wildfire when damage occurs. Ireland said rebuilding a community takes time.
"I think community leadership in various municipalities, perhaps, can spend some time in communicating to residents just what a long-term task it is to rebuild, and start to set expectations for people," Ireland said. "It's not easy or quick. Resilience is necessary."
One third of Jasper and three per cent of the Jasper National Park were destroyed by the fires last year, resulting in an estimated $1.23B in damage.
One year later, Ireland said he is starting to see signs of renewal.
"We have one apartment complex under construction now, we have some condominiums, we have a number of individual homes," he said. "I look every day for these signs of renewal and I see them springing up just like the grass and the forest."
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With files from The St. John's Morning Show and The Signal