Groups work to prepare valley for emergencies
Flathead County played host to 1,100 reported cases of suspicious activity, 288 physical disturbances, 240 burglaries, 180 drug investigations, 158 property crimes, and two kidnappings so far this year. And some of the risks that come with living in the Flathead are the potential for natural disasters and massive power outages.
This is where the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department and the Bigfork Emergency Response Team share a common set of goals, preparedness and safety.
Starting early next week, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office is offering a series of Community Watch program meetings to assess community interest.
The community watch program would use citizens’ involvement to secure their own homes and personal property and to report suspicious activity.
“If you don’t know what you’re seeing, how are you going to know what to report?” Deputy Travis Bruyer said.
Bruyer said that law enforcement alone can’t protect everyone since police work is reactive and that it takes active involvement from citizens when protecting themselves and others. But, how to react is what the program would teach.
“Vigilante actions are in no way condoned,” Sheriff Chuck Curry said in a press release. “And no one is asked to take a personal risk or be a hero. We’ve had several requests for a program of this type and it’s been a year in the making so we’re excited to finally bring it forward.”
The informational sessions will use the principals of “see it, hear it, and report it as well as deterrence and detection” with three levels of participants. The first level is the residents themselves, then the block leaders or coordinators, and then the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Bruyer said he would like to train each of the block leaders in things such as fire suppression, first aid, and light search and rescue.
Because it is based on levels of groups, communication is key to making the program function to keep local neighborhoods safe.
Bruyer said community watches are also used as a means of preparedness during times of disaster.
“You look at the disasters going on in the east coast, why wait for the government to provide flashlights and blankets, shouldn’t we already be taking care of our own?” Bruyer said.
Each Community Watch meeting will be from 7-9 p.m. at the following locations:
• Nov. 12 - Whitefish Middle School Auditorium
• Nov. 13 - Bigfork Middle School
• Nov. 14 - Columbia Falls High School
• Nov. 15 - Northwest Montana Association of Realtors Office at 110 Cooperative Way, Kalispell
BERT
Another group that’s involved in getting the valley’s residents communicating and preparing for possible emergencies is the Bigfork Emergency Response Team (BERT), who are back in action with informational monthly meetings.
“We hope nothing happens, but the motto of the Boy Scouts is to be prepared,” BERT founder and chairman Bruce Nelson said.
Part of BERT’s plan is to host free monthly meetings for guest speakers with a certain expertise in emergency preparedness to share their knowledge with the community.
This month, they are hosting two guest speakers at Bigfork Middle School on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. Cindy Mullaney from the Flathead County Office of Emergency Services and Steven Stanley from the Lake County Office of Emergency Management will discuss the risks the community faces, what can be done before, during and after an emergency, and how to set up a family disaster plan.
“It is just us facilitating awareness,” BERT memeber MonaRae Tuhy said. “BERT isn’t about scaring people, it is about looking out for neighbors safety and wellbeing.”
Much like the community watch’s plan to have block leaders, BERT’s goal is to have a person on their board of directors from each service club, church, and other organizations in the valley.
“Most of the valley will have someone connected to them that they can relay to,” Nelson said. “If we keep it going, this is going to be big.”
So far, BERT has five people on their board and 106 who expressed interest or are involved in other ways. Nelson hopes to increase that number with their monthly meetings and their preparedness fair in the spring.
For more information about BERT, contact Tuhy at 253-8041 or go to big forkemergencyinfo.com.