Regional District of Nanaimo

Operation Dry Timber – A Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Exercise

A wildland-urban interface (WUI) fire is one of the highest rated threats for the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN).  To prepare for such an event, the RDN applied for a Joint Emergency Preparedness Program (JEPP) grant to fund a full-scale exercise and related training.  The exercise contract was awarded to Global Consulting and our team assisted the District with all aspects of the exercise including:

  • Facilitating the exercise design meetings
  • Assisting participating agencies with the development of play events
  • Providing BCERMS training workshops for Emergency Coordination Centre participants
  • Coordinating all  play events and injects  for the Incident Command Post, Emergency Coordination Centre and ESS Reception Centres
  • Developing exercise materials for agency coordinators (roles/responsibilities, site safety, communications protocols)
  • Monitoring and evaluating exercise play and taking photos at all six sites
  • Reviewing questionnaires for observers, evaluators, and participants
  • Facilitating the debriefing
  • Writing of the formal  exercise report

On February 11, 2009, approximately 70-80 individuals from numerous agencies and dozens of volunteers participated in “Operation Dry Timber”, the RDN’s full-scale wildland urban-interface fire exercise. The exercise focused on operations and field activities in the community of Extension, the RDN and City of Parkville’s Emergency Coordination Centres, and numerous Reception Centre and Group Lodging facilities throughout the Nanaimo and Parksville area.

Participants in the two ECC’s were able to rehearse their BCERMS roles and communicate with site and field operations.  BC Forest Service staff, Nanaimo  RCMP, Arrowsmith and Nanaimo Search and Rescue volunteers and members of numerous volunteer fire departments met and coordinated response activities from the Extension Fire Hall.   Amateur radio assisted at all sites.

In the field, RCMP and SAR teams conducted door-to-door visits in community.  This exercise element enabled them to rehearse and evaluate their inter-agency activities, the use of colour-coded flagging tape to identify the status of each home and to raise the awareness of local residents for fire/evacuation preparedness initiatives. In the fire hall, BC Forest Service staff led the fire and RCMP representatives through the escalating fire response activities in a tabletop format, and role-played their communications with the ECC.

The exercise ran throughout of the morning and was followed by lunch and a formal debriefing held in the Regional District of Nanaimo’s Board Chambers. Subsequent departmental and agency debriefing were held in the following days and incorporated in the RDN’s exercise report.

"The overall success of our regional interface fire exercise was due in part to Global's ability to be as flexible as stakeholder needs dictated. Having conducted similar exercises was a real benefit - staff could relate to how other jurisdictions prepared for and participated in an exercise of this scale. The project staff were organized, available for phone consultation almost anytime, and extremely competent. You can tell these consultants are subject matter experts, and we would use their services again in other exercise or training endeavours. A very successful exercise and it was a pleasure to work with Global project staff, who were professional and accommodating. Most reassuring of all was an exercise project that was met all our objectives, and followed the proposed task timeline. Well done, Global!"

Jani Thomas - Emergency Coordinator Regional District of Naniamo