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City looking for grant funding for emergency preparedness equipment

The City of Kimberley is asking the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) to apply for over $20,000 in grant funding through the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund for equipment to assist with emergency management.
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The City of Kimberley is asking the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) to apply for over $20,000 in grant funding through the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund for equipment to assist with emergency management.

Fire Chief Rick Prasad says if received, the grant will cover 100 per cent of the costs, at a total of $15,000.

“We are asking the RDEK to apply for the grant, as it isn’t available to individual communities,” he explained. “If received, the RDEK can use the balance.”

The funds will go towards purchasing four phones, four laptops, remote internet equipment, a printer, radio base station and vests.

“This grant will help us to increase the City’s capacity to effectively manage emergencies and communicate,” said Prasad. “It will also allow us to run our own Emergency Operations Centre.”

Mayor Don McCormick asked if this is in response to last year’s wildfire season, when Kimberley was put on evacuation alert.

Prasad responded saying that the equipment will not only help in the event of another dry summer, but if any other emergencies take place as well.

“It will help us to better manage emergencies and organize our personnel,” he said.

The Bulletin also reported this week that the City is applying for $1.8 million over three years for more fire interface work.

Prasad says that the work that will involve treating 335 hectares of land, some of it re-treatment of what was done in the past, and creating larger fire breaks. A lot of that work will be in the Nature Park area, west of Trickle Creek and north of Forest Crowne.



corey.bullock@kimberleybulletin.com

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Corey Bullock

About the Author: Corey Bullock

Corey Bullock is a multimedia journalist and writer who grew up in Burlington, Ontario.
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