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The fire quickly inundated residents and destroyed most of the villages in northern British Columbia. Some experts once again called for an urgent strengthening of Canada’s ability to respond to emergencies caused by climate change.
Number of residents in Litton Only a few minutes On July 1, a rapidly spreading fire destroyed the village and they fled their homes. Kill two people.
“Canada generally lacks a disaster preparedness culture,” said Craig Stewart, vice president of federal affairs for the Insurance Agency of Canada.
The bureau is a member organization of Canada’s climate certification, an alliance of insurance industry groups, environmental groups and municipalities advocating climate adaptation.
“We seem to deny that the effects of climate change have affected Canadians.”
Some aboriginal leaders said that in the early days of the wildfires around Litton, there was little communication. Chief Matt Pasco, chairman of the Nlaka’pamux National Tribal Committee, discussed his concerns with Gine La Massa from Canada tonight. He said when he finally received a call from the provincial authorities about the health of his cattle. 6:56
Stewart listed multiple severe floods in eastern Canada, EF-3 Tornado that hit Ottawa In 2018 and Heat wave Take the wildfires in British Columbia as an example, Canadians and governments at all levels should be “awakened”.
Stewart said the federal government has not done enough to help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.
Stewart said Canada needs a new federal agency that focuses on disaster preparedness because its current response to extreme weather is out of touch and the Canadian Department of Public Safety is too small to afford it.
“A new and strengthened emergency management agency is needed to protect Canadians,” he said. “I think the events of the past week have proved this.”
Contingency plan does not take into account climate change
Stewart said that municipalities that are on the “front line” of the climate battle with the insurance industry need to better understand their vulnerabilities.
Eddie Oldfield has partnered with 12 cities in Canada to achieve this goal.As the senior director of projects and consulting services for QUEST, a non-governmental organization dedicated to energy efficiency, Oldfield co-authored A report for 2020 How can communities be more adaptable to climate change.
Some cities have adopted climate adaptation plans, such as St. John’s, NB, Assessed How sea level rise affects property and evacuation routes. The report said that at the same time, other communities are still making their plans or have not yet started the process.
Overall, it found that emergency management plans could not keep up with the risks of climate change.
In an interview with CBC, Oldfield said that most provinces require municipalities to develop emergency management plans (EMP) and update them regularly. But EMP usually does not consider climate forecasts-so it does not consider the increased risk and severity of floods, forest fires, and other hazards.
According to the report, due to climate change, EMP also needs to be updated more frequently.
Because “this is not if, but when” communities will face climate hazards, Alderfield said.
Identify risks
He said West Vancouver is one of the areas where a lot of work has been done to reduce the risk of wildfires.Current district Special permission required Fire protection design for land development within 100 meters of the forest area.
West Vancouver Fire Chief Dave Clark said the community is working hard to address 54 recommendations contained in the community wildfire protection plan passed by the City Council in 2019. He said West Vancouver hired an outside consultant to help develop plans to deal with the increasing frequency of wildfires in California and other US states.
“It’s a bit like going to the doctor… the doctor will tell you what’s wrong, and you must accept it,” Clark said. “I think this is what some people worry about, or some municipalities might worry because they don’t know what they will find.”
He said he believes the Lytton fire will inspire more West Vancouver homeowners to participate in his next FireSmart public information program.
“The old days of’I love summer, I love winter, I love autumn’ [are gone],” he said. “Now, every season has something different, and nature has brought us something that makes me anxious.
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