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City seeking $25k emergency shelter grant

The UBCM grant would help to bolster the city’s emergency shelter operations
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A wildfire burning in Kaleden, between Penticton and Oliver, forced the evacuation of 18 homes last summer, with much of the small community under evacuation alert at the time. Photo courtesy John Poon

The City of Penticton will be seeking a $25,000 grant from the Union of B.C. Municipalities to bolster its emergency operations centre after a fiery summer last year.

Deputy fire chief Chris Forster did not say in council Tuesday afternoon whether the record-setting fire season last year prompted the application, which would apply for a UBCM grant at a maximum of $25,000.

“Over the past two years, the fire department has developed an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for the City of Penticton in order to coordinate emergency response and recovery actions,” Forster’s council report said.

“The EOC supports emergency response personnel in the field and coordinates all official communications regarding the emergency.”

The funding is intended to “allow for improvement and capacity” of the EOC to increase the city’s preparedness, and it would also require about $7,500 worth of in-kind staff hours.

“We’re trying to show them that we are putting forward some costs, but it is in-kind,” Forster said in council Tuesday.

He added about $5,000 of those staff hours would be going toward training staff for the EOC operations.

Council approved a motion to put city hall’s weight behind the application for the grant.


@dustinrgodfrey
dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
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