Credit: Province of B.C. file photo

By Mel Rothenburger

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Lessons to learn from the overdue state of emergency

Jul 21, 2021 | 4:16 AM

KAMLOOPS — AFTER MUCH RESISTANCE, the provincial government has finally declared a state of emergency, effective today, due to the wildfires consuming the Interior.

According to Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, the decision “ensures federal, provincial and local resources can be delivered in a co-ordinated response to protect the public.”

Well, gosh, that’s what a growing chorus of leadership groups and the general public from this part of the province have been telling the government for at least two weeks. Until now, the answer has been that all necessary resources were being provided without need for a state of emergency.

Warnings from on-the-ground responders that B.C. is woefully short of firefighting personnel and resources, and the serious shortage of accommodation for evacuees, fell on deaf ears in Victoria until yesterday.

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But, says Farnworth, the state of emergency will secure the necessary spaces should a mass evacuation become necessary. While Farnworth had doubled down on the NDP government’s refusal to declare a state of emergency only the day before, his rationale now for doing what should have been done in the first place is that we’re in for more hot weather.

More hot weather coming? Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Sometimes one wonders if folks in the provincial capital and in the Lower Mainland ever go beyond Hope.

If they did, they wouldn’t be able to find a place to stay unless they have friends or family here. Kamloops is a billet-only town right now.

It’s easy to predict what will happen at the end of this dreadful fire season: another study, and another report, because that’s what we do. There was the Filmon Report after 2003, and the Abbot-Chapman Report after 2017 and so many others, all of them about being prepared.

This year there’s been the heat wave, the belated campfire ban, and foot-dragging on the state of emergency. This year’s report will surely include a big chapter on taking necessary steps sooner rather than later.

I’m Mel Rothenburger the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.