Home »
Evacuation alert prompts school closures
School District No. 5 (SD5) is closing the two schools in Elkford until further notice because of the Evacuation Alert issued by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK), District of Elkford and District of Sparwood this afternoon.
“In the case of an Evacuation Alert, we must close schools that are in areas under an Evacuation Alert as an Evacuation Order could come at any time at that point. Therefore, we will be closing the two Elkford schools – Rocky Mountain Elementary School and Elkford Secondary School until further notice. The safety of our students and staff will always be our first priority,” stated Jason Tichauer, Safe Schools Coordinator for SD5.
“On the advice of emergency personnel, the Ministry of Education and examples from other school districts, we have seen the absolute need to take this step. We will be working with the regional district and individual communities to give updates as soon as they are available and will be communicating with families through our School District website,” Tichauer said.
The Evacuation Alert is precautionary as the Quinn Creek and White River Complex Fires continue to burn, noted RDEK Information Officer Loree Duczek.
“An evacuation alert informs residents of the threat of a potential or impending danger. It is intended to give people time to gather things and prepare themselves so that they are ready to go should the situation worsen and an Evacuation Order be issued,” Officer Duczek explained. “We encourage people within the evacuation alert area to put together important papers (like insurance papers), medications, valuables, supplies for children and pets, and other important items so that in the event things progress and they are asked to evacuate, they are ready to go.”
The evacuation ALERT area covers the area north of the District of Sparwood to Bingay Creek. This includes the District of Elkford, Line Creek, Green Hills and Fording River Operations and all rural properties north of the District of Sparwood as outlined on the accompanying map.
The Quinn Creek fire is currently estimated at 6,576 hectares in size and is burning southwest of Elkford. It is being actively actioned by the BC Wildfire Service both by ground and air.
The White River Complex is now estimated at 22,500 ha. A dedicated Incident Management Team has arrived to take over the operation of the fires and a camp has been set up in the Canal Flats area. In addition, 105 Mexican firefighters are on scene today.
“We need to stress that at this time, we have only issued an alert and now is the time to take steps to be prepared,” Duczek said.
An information line has been set up at 250-426-2188 or toll free 1-855-346-2188.
For the latest status of wildfires
e-KNOW
