Taylor Fire Chief discusses Emergency Preparedness Mock Exercise

TAYLOR, B.C. — The District of Taylor’s Fire Chief says its Tuesday morning Emergency Preparedness Mock Exercise was extremely successful.

According to Fire Chief Steve Byford, the city has been preparing for the exercise for a long time.

“We do a three-year rotation of a tabletop exercise one year, followed by a functional exercise, and then a full-scale [exercise],” Byford explains. 

“This one was based on our evacuation plan and working the Emergency Operations Centre. I’m not sure what the next one will be or what our focus will be, but the three-year buildup focuses on a certain aspect that we want to improve on.”

The mock exercise was announced on social media the week before and was carried out with assistance from the Peace River Regional District, Fort St. John, and other partners, such as the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness.

The exercise saw the fire department block off roads, followed by North Peace Search and Rescue assisting with “tactical evacuations”, in which first responders went door-to-door and spoke with residents at home.

“We set up our Emergency Support Services reception centre at the Community Hall,” Byford adds. “Our emergency operations centre was set up to facilitate all of our requirements, from the Incident Command Post needs to sending out a [State of Local Emergency].”

Byford thanked everyone who was involved in the mock exercise, saying it takes a huge team to pull off and can interrupt residents’ day, but that it’s in service to a good cause.

“Hopefully, we never need to use it, but if the day comes, we’ve had the opportunity to go through a multitude of different types of operations from our Emergency Operations Centre, out to the troops on the ground. It was a great day.”