The City of West Kelowna has sought out a familiar name in beginning to assemble a team to lead the post-McDougall Creek wildfire recovery effort.
Civic government consultant Ron Mattiussi, who was the Kelowna city manager during the 2003 Okanagan Mountain wildfire, has been approached to assist with the team heading up the West Kelowna recovery plan.
含羞草研究社淭hey have approached me but it含羞草研究社檚 way too early as nothing has been approved yet含羞草研究社ut West Kelowna has a good team in place and if there is a way I can help out that含羞草研究社檚 great,含羞草研究社� Mattiussi said.
Because of the 2003 wildfire, Mattiussi found himself immersed in the creation of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) at that time, which in the two decades since has become the standard for dealing with consequences of interface fires causing property damage in B.C. communities.
含羞草研究社淚 was watching the fire from my patio (last Friday) and it triggers a lot of thoughts in your mind about what happened in 2003,含羞草研究社� he said.
含羞草研究社淚n 2003, I was involved with the 2003 EOC (Emergency Operations Centre) and did not have the view of the fire like many other people did含羞草研究社ut when I saw the fire last Friday I said to myself, 含羞草研究社榊ea, I know what this means.含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫
One of the differences he noted from 2003 was the speed in which the fire spread from West Kelowna, facing the reality that embers could jump Okanagan Lake and ignite fires in Kelowna and Lake Country.
含羞草研究社淭he Okanagan Mountain wildfire was a slow moving fire as we watched for a week as the wall of fire approached the city limits before it took off含羞草研究社he other aspect this time was how it involved multiple jurisdictions at once which placed a lot of added pressure on the EOC to support those multiple jurisdictions at the same time.含羞草研究社�
Mattiussi含羞草研究社檚 experience has led him to be recruited to assist with the post-recovery effort for the wildfire-damaged communities of Lytton, in the Fraser Canyon, and Fort McMurray, in Alberta.
He acknowledged one advantage he is able to bring to the table is an understanding the intricacies of how civic government works and can respond to wildfire situations, and also his first-hand experience with the emergency response management aspect.
Mattiussi looks back at 2003 and feels fortunate he was surrounded by a strong team of advisors, starting with Kelowna
Fire Chief Gerry Zimmermann, and the fire department having an emergency plan in place.
含羞草研究社淚 stepped into a situation where everyone knew what they were doing, but I remember when started to lose homes that first night, a forestry person pulled me aside and said you have to start thinking about recovery now, to pull together a team to come up with a plan and let the community know how you plan to deal with the recovery process,含羞草研究社� he said.
Mattiussi speaks positively of how the City of West Kelowna has responded to the impact of the McDougall Creek wildfire. 含羞草研究社淭hey are really on top of it,含羞草研究社� he said.
Mattiussi said while the city faces the reality of loss, he cautions affected residents to seek out support for their own mental well-being after going through such a traumatic experience.
含羞草研究社淲e don含羞草研究社檛 always understand ourselves about feeling the stress and trauma, even if it含羞草研究社檚 at a low level含羞草研究社eople may want to push that off and think they are okay but they are not always okay,含羞草研究社� he cautioned.
含羞草研究社淗omes will be rebuilt, neighbourhoods will be safe含羞草研究社he physical side of things will take care of themselves but the mental health side of this should not be ignored. Don含羞草研究社檛 under-estimate the stress and trauma you feel when experiencing an event like this.含羞草研究社�
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