District of Lantzville and Regional District of Nanaimo volunteers will be better prepared to deal with wildfire situations thanks to more than $30,000 from the Province of B.C.
In a press release, the two local governments announced that they were approved for $30,139 in emergency support services grant money from the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. The money will go toward training and equipment, in particular, “locally focused training” which “will be designed with local procedures, regional hazards” that takes into consideration “unique needs” of the RDN and Lantzville emergency services, it said.
“The training series … will provide for scenarios which are more likely and applicable to our region, considers the volunteers who cannot access online training and enables real-time cross training with the RDN emergency operations centre. In addition, the training will reflect the new virtual EOC environment and ongoing COVID safety practices,” the press release said.
Volunteers will get four full training days and subsequently, “two tabletop exercises with drills” examining large wildfire evacuation, the press release said.
Tyler Brown, RDN board chairperson, said in the release that the grant will allow volunteers to receive training in their own community incorporating the latest emergency response best practices.
“Ongoing training is an important component in the effective and efficient delivery of emergency support services,” said Brown.
Lantzville Mayor Mark Swain noted in the release that emergencies and disasters don’t follow jursidictional borders.
“The ability for the ESS teams to train together will enhance regional preparedness and coordination,” Swain said.
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