Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Amandalina Letterio

JUNIPER RIDGE/VALLEYVIEW WILDFIRE

Juniper Ridge residents press city hall for escape plan after Canada Day close call

Jul 5, 2021 | 5:02 PM

KAMLOOPS — After a close call with the Juniper Ridge wildfire on July 1, residents are asking the City of Kamloops to add alternative emergency routes to the neighbourhood.

With Highland Road being the only accessible street, some residents couldn’t get out for over an hour.

“It was just an incredibly vulnerable feeling for people watching in a fire,” Juniper Ridge resident Nicole Bauche told CFJC Today.

“Even as we were going out it just looked like a wall of flames, so, quite terrifying for people that are stuck in traffic and are trying to get to safety.”

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Two other dirt roads can act as emergency exits in Juniper Ridge, one on Qu’Appelle Boulevard and the other on Coldwater Drive. Both were closed off by locked gates during the evacuation, prompting residents to cut the locks themselves.

“But even 20 minutes after it was open, there was still not a lot of awareness, so whoever opened it or however it got open, there was still a line up all the way down to the roundabout,” explained Jennifer Van Der Westhuizen, a new resident of Juniper Ridge.

Although residents are frustrated with how the wildfire evacuation was handled, the City is confident in the emergency plan it had in place.

“If need be, those accesses could have been utilized if anyone is in danger,” said David Trawin, chief administrative officer at the City of Kamloops.

“There’s people that needed to get out and then there’s the people that wanted to get out. Those are two different things.”

After experiencing it first-hand, MLA and Juniper Ridge resident Todd Stone says it’s not a good enough plan.

“What happened that evening cannot be allowed to happen again. Peter Milobar and I felt it was important as the MLAs of Kamloops to make our views known to the City of Kamloops, in a constructive way,” Stone said.

In their letter, Stone and Milobar outlined a number of actions that they believe will enhance the Juniper Ridge evacuation plan for emergencies.

Stone isn’t the only one who has written letters. Residents voiced their concerns in early June after they found out the City plans to add more homes to the neighbourhood.

“Many of us had written to them saying that we do not approve any such further developments. Particularly given that we have only one access. If the community continues growing, it’s going to be a safety hazard should we ever need to evacuate,” said Juniper Ridge resident Raimey Olthuis.

On June 29, City council voted in favour of the new residential development.

On Tuesday (July 6), the City of Kamloops will release a formal statement about the Juniper Ridge fire and addressing the community’s concerns about its emergency plan.