Kamloops to hold evacuation route tour for Juniper residents this summer; other neighbourhoods to follow

KAMLOOPS — The City of Kamloops is set to hold another evacuation route tour for residents in Juniper Ridge this summer, though it hasn’t yet announced a date.

Emergency Preparedness Manager Ty Helgason says these tours – which were last held in 2023 – will allow residents to familiarize themselves with the new evacuation routes that were established after the fire on Canada Day in 2021.

“After the interface wildfire, the City worked to formalize egress routes out of this neighbourhood and then in 2023, led tours through those official egress routes,” Helgason said during the May 13 Committee of the Whole meeting.

“This was not done in 2024 but we will be bringing it back again in 2025.”

By hosting these tours, the City hopes to avoid issues that arose when people were forced to flee their homes in 2021. While the fire did not destroy any properties, a number of residents who were trying to flee were trapped in their vehicles on Highland Road due to a lack of available escape routes.

“This is not a simulated evacuation by any means, it is just a tour to drive the routes and get familiar be aware of where they are and get comfortable so that if they are ever needed again, there will be ease of access and evacuation,” Helgason added.

A map showing exits from the Juniper Ridge subdivision of Kamloops. (Image Credit: City of Kamloops)

Helgason also said Tuesday that similar evacuation tours will be held in other neighbourhoods in Kamloops, once the routes are finalized.

“We’re establishing similar route mapping in collaboration with our GIS department and we’ll produce those as they’re completed,” he said. “The neighbourhoods are being done in order of prioritization based on fire risk, flood risk, complexity of egress, infrastructure, and a variety of other criteria.”

Protective Services Director Ken Uzeloc said there are a number of different organizations, including Kamloops Fire Rescue, Community Services Officers, and city roads crews – are working on plans for the expanded evacuation route routes.

“A lot of planning has to go into making that event happen to get people notified about it and to get all the groups available,” Uzeloc, who is also Kamloops Fire Chief, said.

“Some of our evacuation routes, like Juniper East, go through private land, so we have to connect with them to make sure that we can access the land on a non-emergency basis so that we don’t interfere with their propertied and things like that.”