Residents of Parker Cove on the west side of Okanagan Lake will soon be without firefighting and medical response as the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) has announced the cancellation of those services.
The news comes as summer has arrived and memories of the White Rock Lake wildfire still weigh on the minds of Parker Cove residents who were evacuated by the massive 2021 blaze.
In a letter to Parker Cove properties obtained by The Morning Star, the OKIB advised it made the "difficult decision" to terminate their fire protection and medical response services effective July 23.
Parker Cove is a residential housing development with hundreds of homes off Westside Road. Parker Cove Properties Limited Partnership leases homes to individuals on land held by the OKIB.
The OKIB's letter says the service cancellations are due to a breakdown in negotiations with Parker Cove Properties and an inability for the band to cover the costs of the services.
"OKIB is not funded to provide services to developments on a complimentary basis and does not have the financial or operational resources to continue offering these services without a formal agreement in place," the letter reads. "For some time, OKIB has made efforts to negotiate a fire protection services agreement with the certificate of possession holder of the lands."
The letter says the agreement on the table includes a charge of about $0.0015 per dollar of assessed value per home in the development, and says that rate is consistent with what has been agreed upon by other developments on OKIB land.
"This payment is essential for sustaining emergency response operations and reflects the actual cost of delivering the services," the letter states.
The band's letter says the decision to cancel the services was "not issued lightly."
"The safety and wellbeing of residents is a primary concern for OKIB, and we remain open to reaching an agreement should the certificate of possession holder determine it is in the occupants' interest to formalize the provision of services."
A Parker Cove resident spoke to The Morning Star about the issue on the condition of anonymity.
She said she's lived in Parker Cove for years and "we've never been told that we have to pay extra" for fire protection and medical response services.
The resident said it was a "shock" when the OKIB letter was hand-delivered to her home.
"Going into fire season, the way this could snowball on people is horrific," she said.
She added a lack of fire protection could jeopardize residents' ability to obtain home insurance, and without insurance they won't be able to obtain a mortgage.
"We were here during the fires of 2021, where (firefighters) set up camp right at our main entrance. We were evacuated for six weeks, so that's why this is super scary to us," the resident said.
She added as many as 400 homes are in Parker Cove, among them seniors who would be at a greater risk in a fire emergency.
The resident claims mismanagement is what's led to the services "suddenly being yanked."
The Morning Star reached out to the OKIB for comment but did not receive a reply as of Thursday afternoon.
Parker Cove Properties Ltd. Partnership also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
