District of Taylor and TIMAG to host Emergency Preparedness Week

TAYLOR, B.C. —  The District of Taylor and the Taylor Industrial Mutual Aid Group (TIMAG) are all set to host Emergency Preparedness Week. 

The community of Taylor is invited to an open house and BBQ on Wednesday, May 6th, 2026, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the Taylor Community Hall, located on Cherry Avenue. 

Emergency Preparedness Week runs from May 3rd to May 9th. 

Steve Byford, current president of TIMAG and protective services director and fire Chief for the District of Taylor, said this is a federal initiative organized annually with the District of Taylor. 

“This is an opportunity where we bring emergency professionals, industrial partners, provincial and federal agencies, together to provide the community and our industrial partners [with] information,” Byford explained. 

The event will include demonstrations, a free BBQ as well as prizes for the community. 

Byford said this event is meant for both personal and community preparedness. 

“[The community will be] prepared in advance of those emergencies we’ve seen and dealt with over the last few years,” he noted. “This has been something TIMAG has been doing for quite some time.” 

Byford said the event attracts between 250 and 300 people. 

He said: “All of our partners have individual tables inside our community hall.” 

“We also have Taylor Fire Rescue, North Peace Search and Rescue, the Peace River Airport comes down with one of their fire trucks to do displays and demonstrations outside.” 

Byford believes this event is important for handling incidents that arise unexpectedly. 

“[Incidents] where sometimes there’s evacuations required, either at a small level or a larger level, that involves our Emergency Support Services teams, regional emergency operation centres [and ensure] we do everything we can to keep the community safe,” he explained. 

Byford added that this event has been happening since 1999. 

He said: “We not only host this event, the industrial partners and emergency personnel hold exercises on a three-year rotation, where we do tabletops and then go up to a full-scale every third

Byford believes that it is not just the government’s responsibility but also that of individual families. 

“[They] also have to be prepared and be educated in knowing what to do during an emergency,” he added.