The Downtown Penticton Association (DPA) and the Penticton Fire Deparment hosted a fire drill at the community market today to test the community’s emergency preparedness.
The drill took place on June 1 at approximately 8:30 a.m. in the 300 block of Main Street. Initial plans to have a building emitting smoke had to be cancelled, but the drill continued as planned.
“As much as (the community market) is a great community event, it’s quite a significant risk to the community also,” said Chief Larry Watkinson. “When you put a mass gathering in a downtown market area and it’s in front of storefronts, it really limits the fire departments operations as it relates to responding to emergencies - be it a medical emergency or a fire emergency.”
Watkinson said the response was “quite good” and DPA executive director Lynn Allin said the market vendors were happy to participate.
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