• a mud slide threatened a condominium complex in Penticton
• a house burned in Lake Country
• a Surrey, B.C., apartment complex burned
• the Similkameen River Ice Jam occurred
• the Fraser River freshet threatened (2007)
• the Tatoosh Fire approached Princeton (2006)

 

• in 1996, CDART volunteers participated in the Similkameen Flood Watch.

2009 CDART Debriefing on Glenrosa and Terrace Mountain Fire

Where:	Kelowna Fire Hall, 2255 Enterprise Way
When:	Friday, October 16th at 6pm
Who Should Attend:	CDART Volunteers, Noah's Wish Volunteers, Convergent Volunteers who helped us out during the fires, Interested individuals/evacuees who may want to learn more about the response
Agenda:	If you have a specific item that you want to see on the agenda, please email info@cdart.org.
RSVP:	Required so that we know how many chairs to set up.
Why:	To learn what worked well, what worked not so well and how we can improve our response.
Queries:	Call Deb at 250.493.9752, or after 4:30pm at 250.809.7152

 

Westside Wildfires, Summer 2009

Update August 5

On the recall order for the Terrace Mountian fire, Cameron Imrie asked the CDART SAR team to retrieve his two bearded dragons, one hatchling boa and a gecko.

Update July 24, evening

We have closed the pet reception centre and sent all the volunteers home for well deserved rest. Since there are still some evacuees and evacuation alerts, we have left our contact information in West Kelowna and are ready to redeploy if needed.

Thank you to everyone involved with helping the animals - all the groups, those on site and those who remained at home, and also the families of the volunteers for all their support.

Update July 24, 930h (9:30am)

It's very quiet at our pet reception centre. The Terrace Mountain fire is only 20% contained so we are remaining on site in case there are further evacuations. Most Terrace Mountain evacuees are reporting to Vernon.

If it remains slow, we will be doing 'on the job training' of volunteers. New volunteers will shadow more experienced volunteers to learn the required tasks.

We are trying to calculate the level of volunteer involvement so far. We have some estimates: 30+ volunteers, putting in 850+ hours. This includes CDART, Noah's Wish and convergent volunteers. Well done, team!!

Update July 23, 2030h (8:30pm)

CDART team members have performed one rescue request for an Afghan (dog). We received authorization from the RCMP and went into the field immediately and the family was reunited. We are still sheltering 2 cats from the West Kelowna fires and had one cat surrendered to us yesterday. Ace was adopted the same afternoon. There are many spot fires due to lightening strikes. Both forestry and fire departments have responded quickly and are doing an excellent job. The RCMP has also been wonderful in supporting our rescue efforts.

Update July 23, 3:30 pm

CDART is remaining in the field to handle evacuees from the Terrace Mountain fire. Evacuees to the north go to Vernon and the Vernon SPCA will handle the animals. Evacuees to the south go to West Kelowna and CDART will handle the animals. This situation i just unfolding. We will update when we can.

July 22, 18:30h (6:30pm)

The remaining evacuees can return home tonight and our volunteers working at the shelter and in maintenance will be able to go home soon as well. CDART assisted over 300 animals during the disaster, including horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, rodents, chickens, other livestock and many, many fish. We worked as a team with other agencies to provide a coordinated response for the animal evacuees. Now we can only hope that we won't be called out again, especially for a human caused fire.

Celina Chase-Hrabanel, CDART volunteer from Kelowna, was working Animal Intake at the ESS Reception Centre. Volunteers quickly got attached to the dogs in our care.

 

 

 

 

PETsMART Manager, Ellen, is making a donation of supplies to CDART Operations Manager, Fran Cameron. This was particularly a great donation because we were in such need for small litter pans for the cats.>

 

 

 

Horses are evacuated from the Glenrosa area on July 19th. The CDART team went in an escorted convoy of 14 horse trailers to evacuate the horses that rescue requests. These horses and the family donkeys were evacuated to CDART homes in Summerland along with two goats Hannah and Naomi.

 

July 21, 2100h (9pm)

Good day today, with so many people going home with their animals. The team is still sheltering animals that can't yet return home. They're also out in the field performing rescues and maintenance. The firefighters have increased containment so the outlook is good.

July 21, 1230 hours (1230pm)

Today is fairly busy as families come to pick up their animals and return home with them. The team continues to provide maintenance for animals in areas that remain evacuated. The dog from last night will be reunited with his family tomorrow.

July 21, 900 hours (9am)

We had some activity overnight - a woman looking to pickup her dog and a young dog brought in by the RCMP for sheltering. The youngster has joined some other canine evacuees at Canine Campus. Canine Campus has helped us immensely by providing fostering and 30 collapsible, wire dog crates. We are still building our inventory of disaster equipment so the crates were much appreciated.

Monday, July 20 1930h (7:30pm)

The CDART team has received word that the fire near Oliver is under control. Tonight, in West Kelowna , our team will performing maintenance tasks for the animals remaining at their homes. The status of the fires remains unchanged. Temperatures are expected to rise in the coming days and that is not good for the fires. No rain in sight.

Monday, July 20 15:30 hours (3:30 pm)

Cheryl reports I've spoken with our operations manager. We've assisted over 100 animals and have a few fosters. We continue to rescue and reunite animals with their families. Most people are keeping their animals with them at their temporary accommodations. We are also providing food, water, etc. for animals that remain at home.

Temperatures are up in the 30s this afternoon and that is not good for the fire and there may be more wind gusts as well.

Everybody is working together to care for the animals. There are sufficient volunteers on the ground at this time.

We do need small litter boxes and a bag of wood shavings (aspen only please) for the rabbits. We don't need a large amount and are looking to people in the area to supply. PETsMART in Kelowna has already donated some supplies and TELUS has offered additional cell phones.

Sunday, July 19, 2145 hours (9:45pm)

Well, it was a busy day with intake, rescue and maintenance for all the affected animals. The temperature and wind cooperated and the Glenrosa fire is 40% contained. The wind did not kick up last this afternoon (as often happens) so all is quiet tonight. The animals in care are all bedded down. Hopefully, the weather will continue to help and the firefighters can stay on top of this.

UPDATE SUNDAY JULY 19 10AM

Not much change since last night. Some horses and other livestock were evacuated by CDART volunteers. The wind is not gusting this morning and it is cooler - that is good for fighting the fires. CDART (Okanagan) is still on site and teams are going in today to evacuate some pets and do maintenance for other animals. Things could change in the afternoon as temperatures rise and the winds pickup. We're still at 'wait and see' if the response level needs to be increased.

At the request of local authorities, CDART has responded to the wildfire in Westbank, BC. CDART volunteers are at the reception centre assisting people that evacuated with their animals. Under the direction of the RCMP, CDART volunteers, with 10 horse trailers, are evacuating horses that remained behind. We will update our site as more information becomes available.