Southern Interior residents worried about fires but most aren’t prepared to deal with them: survey

A new survey shows that 83 per cent of Southern Interior residents are very concerned or moderately concerned about being personally affected by fires.

But only 30 per cent have bought or prepared an emergency kit with supplies they might need in case of an emergency and only 24 per cent have prepared an emergency plan that includes how to get in touch with family or friends.

“The number of residents who have an emergency kit, a plan and a meeting place is down markedly since 2019,” states a news release from Research Co. that conducted the survey amongst 800 B.C. residents between July 31 and Aug. 3.

Provincewide, 38 per cent of those polled say they have purchased or prepared an emergency kit, down eight per cent from a similar survey in May 2019.

Vancouver Island residents are the most prepared at 45 per cent. That dropped to 41 per cent in the Fraser Valley, 39 per cent in Metro Vancouver, 30 per cent in what the survey refers to as Southern B.C. Northern B.C. was the lowest at 29 per cent.

The survey simply refers to fires and doesn’t differentiate between house fires, wildfires or other types of fires.

Younger people, between the ages of 18 and 34, are more likely to be prepared, the survey found.

In terms of what kinds of emergencies people expect might affect them personally, fires topped the list at 80 per cent provincially. That rose to 83 per cent in Southern B.C.

Provincially, earthquakes came in second at 72 per cent but that was a concern of only 32 per cent of Southern Interior residents.

Third the list was high winds at 58 per cent provincewide but only at 48 per cent in the Southern Interior.

Lower down on the list of 10 possible emergencies were terrorist attacks with 46 per cent of B.C. residents being very concerned or moderately concerned. That worry was less in the Southern Interior at only 24 per cent.

For more on the survey, go here.

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