With several wildfires taking place across Alberta, Cochrane Search and Rescue (CSAR) assures the community that they are ready to mobilize in the event their services are needed.
President of CSAR, Kyle Blondeau, said all 60 members of their group are currently on standby for an incident in relation to the wildfires.
“For example, we’re on standby for Water Valley,” Blondeau said. “They’re evacuating people right now, so we have people on standby.”
Blondeau explained that there are currently different shifts going on, where volunteers pick times that work best for them.
“That’s just basically assisting in evacuating people, going door-to-door knocking, helping them get out if they need a hand with anything, and we’ll also set up teams at intersections on highways to make sure nobody’s going back to an area that’s been cleared,” he explained.
In terms of provincial efforts, Blondeau said anyone who is part of a Search and Rescue team in Alberta has the opportunity to be part of the provincial Search and Rescue Team, to help with wildfire fighting efforts taking place in the province.
“So, 15 members who are on CSAR are also on the provincial team,” Blondeau said. “It’s basically run the exact same, it’s just on a provincial scale. So, it’s members from all over the province who respond to any incident wherever.
“Right now, we get called out for something like Jasper, High Level, Fort Mac, Grand Prairie, and pretty much anywhere in the province they might need extra hands. And shifts are whatever that volunteer can commit to”
With a provincial mock search exercise taking place in Cochrane in spring, Blondeau said this is what they practiced for. He also shares some advice for residents who could potentially be impacted by the ongoing wildfire situation.
“It’s a matter of being prepared, being ready, and having a full tank of gas in your vehicle,” Blondeau said. “Having emergency supplies like water, food, extra gas, [and] anything that you might need to grab and go, like having prepared totes of supplies, because when this kind of thing happens, wildfires are fast and being prepared with your necessities when you need to get out is a timely thing.”
For now, Blondeau assures that CSAR is prepared to mobilize when they are called upon. He advises that all residents should pay close attention to local news stations and social media to stay up to date as the wildfire situations unfold across Alberta.
“Even though it is 100 per cent volunteers, we are ready 24/7, night or day,” he said. “We’re ready to go in the middle of the night if we have to, we’ll have our teams, we’ll have our trucks, and we’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
