By Chad Klassen

TNRD thanks wildfire volunteers with appreciation dinner

Apr 19, 2018 | 8:43 AM

KAMLOOPS — It was a long, tiring summer for everyone affected by last year’s wildfires. The thousands of evacuees who had mere minutes to pack up and leave their home, some of whom lost everything.

They were greeted in Kamloops by thousands of volunteers who stepped up to help. On Tuesday night, the Thompson Nicola Regional District hosted a volunteer appreciation dinner, coming during National Volunteer Week. 

TNRD chair John Ranta and Kamloops mayor Ken Christian co-hosted the event that included dinner, entertainment, and an awards presentation to honour Carolynne Miller, who was presented with a public safety lifeline award in Victoria this week.

Ranta noted it’s the least the regional district can do to thank all the volunteers that made a difference during a difficult summer. 

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“We just could not have responded the way we did without the people of the Thompson Nicola Regional District and the people of Kamloops stepping up, one after another, endlessly, tirelessly, day after day, week after week,” said Ranta. 

Christian, who’s talked with most of the volunteers, was amazed by some of the stories they told from last summer. 

“It’s amazing the stories you heard about emergency social services, all of the different pet care. Everybody coming together with supplies for the people of the Cariboo and people from other parts of the TNRD,” he said. “This is just an important thing to do from my perspective and the perspective of Kamloops city council. We’re pleased to be partnered with the Thompson Nicola Regional District on emergency preparedness.”

Christian said with a changing climate and the potential for other such disasters, it’s important to acknowledge the volunteer, thank them, and hope they return.

“That’s one of the reasons you want to recognize volunteers because you hope you’ve have them back,” said Christian. “With climate change and with a lot of the curious weather we’ve been having, forest fires become, unfortunately, routine. So we need to be smarter about how we react to those, and being able to evacuate in a timely manner to a safe location is all part of that preparedness.”