The Cariboo Regional District (CRD) held a wildfire community consultation meeting at the Quesnel Arts & Recreation Centre on Nov. 4.
Around 17 local residents attended the meeting, which was run by CRD consultant Tim Conrad from Butterfly Effect Communications.
Representatives from the provincial Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNRO&RD) Ministry, the City of Quesnel and B.C. Ministry of Agriculture were also in attendance, and led break-out sessions focusing on issues such as communications during the emergency, and plans for recovery.
The CRD’s recently appointed recovery manager Stephanie Masun was also on hand to take down citizens’ concerns.
Conrad said turnout was probably affected by the Saturday night slot, but he was pleased with how the meeting went.
“It was a reasonable turnout.
“The crowd had lots of great thoughts on where improvements can be made.”
Rick Wittner, who is president of the Cariboo Mining Association, attended the meeting and said the format gave everyone a chance to voice their concerns.
He added one of the main topics he brought to the meeting was around the classification of mining as “high risk activity” during fire season.
“[The provincial government] has [mining operations] lumped into a high-risk category, so when we reach a Class 5 fire danger level, all industrial activities have to cease. But we work in gravel pits, and are working in water, so it’s really not a high-risk activity.”
Wittner said his organization will meet with FLNRO&RD Minister Doug Donaldson in Victoria to discuss the reclassification of the mining industry in the Cariboo.
He added the representatives he spoke to on Saturday agreed to push his ideas forward to the provincial government.
Wittner said he also spoke at the meeting about the need for better communication regarding highway and road closures, and coming up with a system to keep track of miners who go in to at-risk regions, so they can be contacted to get out if need be.
Lynn Mathieson also attended the meeting and said she appreciated the chance to get a “big picture” summary of what went on during the summer.
“It was the first opportunity to get the big picture in terms of who was affected, the response, and how hard people worked to put things in place and get information out. It was important to be able to put everything in context.”
As executive director of the Child Development Centre in Quesnel, Mathieson said her concerns were around the support community members can access in the wake of a disaster.
“My topics were about whether people are able to access the emotional support to cope with tragedy and crisis, as well as how people who are not linked in to Facebook get information.
“In town, we have lots of people who don’t have access to good communication via the Internet. So how do we make sure they get access to information to make informed decisions?”
Conrad said many of the concerns he heard at Quesnel’s meeting were ones that have come up frequently so far in the sessions, but he added Quesnel’s crowd had a unique perspective.
“There was a uniqueness to this group in that they had the benefit of past experience from other relatively recent fires.”
Conrad said the information his team hears at the consultations will be written up in a formal report for the CRD.
The sessions began Oct. 29 in Forest Grove and continue this week in the Chilcotin.