‘When you’re prepared, an emergency is still scary and difficult — but you have a path forward,’ says columnist
After another year of devastating wildfires, intense drought, and damaging storms, the urgency to get our homes and families ready for emergencies has never been clearer.
As a former Brownie and Girl Guide, I really took the motto “be prepared” to heart. That lesson has never felt more important than it does today. Environment Canada’s fall and winter outlook shows Canada is moving into a shifting weather pattern — one that promises more unpredictability. Fires, ice storms, heavy snowfalls, extreme heat, and drought: These are no longer once-in-a-lifetime events.
With climate change, they’re overlapping, stacking one crisis on top of another.
So, what can we do? The basics matter:
A grab-and-go bag for every household member (and pets).
Clear evacuation routes, with gas tanks kept full and cars backed in for quick getaway.
Understanding warnings and alerts — knowing what they mean before you see them flashing on your phone.
Emergency contacts, written down, not just stored in your cell.
When you’re prepared, an emergency is still scary and difficult — but you have a path forward, a way to regain safety, wellness, and security.
Ontario has reintroduced the Emergency Management Modernization Act, 2025, to boost public safety and disaster response. The plan makes Ontario Corps a key part of emergency operations, led by Premier Doug Ford and Jill Dunlop, Simcoe North MPP and minister of emergency preparedness and response.
Ontario Corps is a new team of volunteers and skilled professionals ready to respond when disaster strikes. Their mission is simple: Stand together to protect communities during storms, floods, wildfires, and other emergencies.
Working with local responders, non-governmental organizations, and First Nations partners, Ontario Corps will provide on-the-ground help — from emergency shelter to debris cleanup and flood protection.
I’m genuinely excited about this initiative and will surely be applying to be part of it.
Learn about different emergencies and how to be prepared by visiting ontario.ca/page/emergency-preparedness.
Living in the tinderbox
I often think about my own situation, living in the country surrounded by forests. We’ve cut and cleared some of the dead ash trees, but many more still stand — dry matchsticks just waiting for a spark. My property feels like a tinderbox ready to ignite.
What keeps me awake at night isn’t only the fire risk itself, but the fact we have only one way out: a narrow, half-mile driveway framed tightly by cedar trees. If flames were to take hold, that escape route could close in minutes. It’s a frightening assessment, but an honest one.
That fear fuels my preparedness. I know we may not get much warning, and when a wildfire moves, there’s no time to hesitate. That’s why I’ll definitely be widening the driveway and trimming back trees and branches, giving us a safer way out should the worst ever happen.
One road out — and it could close in minutes. | Image supplied by Monika Rekola
Be ready before disaster strikes
Have a family emergency plan: Know your exits, meeting places, and emergency kit, include pets and special needs, and be ready to be self-sufficient for at least three days. Work with neighbours, set one out-of-town contact as your family’s link, and start building your plan today with the Red Cross guide. Make an emergency plan.
Some things shouldn’t ride around in your backpack but also shouldn’t sit unprotected in your house. Keep duplicates of vital documents in a safety deposit box (or, at minimum, a home fireproof safe). Examples:
House deed, insurance papers, passports, wills.
Backup of family photos on a flash drive.
Inventory of valuables for insurance. Maybe this is also a good time to review your insurance policy.
My friend, Marie Bennett, knows this first-hand. She has lived through fires in California and British Columbia. She thought she had left that behind when she settled in rural New Brunswick, but she found herself facing wildfires again.
In 2015, living in Westbridge, B.C., Marie’s community had no cell service, so everyone relied on landlines. When power lines were cut, the rumour spread that landlines were “accidentally” cut, too. Suddenly, communication vanished. Fires can move unbelievably fast — Marie’s fire burned 32 kilometres in just two hours. Many people were caught with barely enough gas in their vehicles to get out.
Marie still remembers the devastation.
“Thirty-two homes burned, and half of them didn’t even have insurance,” she says quietly.
The fire was so fierce, it jumped two rivers and two highways, consuming everything in its path.
In 2017, the conditions were just as brutal. Fires started early, crews were stretched thin, and on some days, there were, on average, 100 new fires a day for two-and-a-half months straight. One blaze alone grew larger than the entire province of Prince Edward Island, forcing 100,000 people to evacuate at once.
For Marie, it wasn’t just people at risk — it was the animals, too.
“One day, out of the path of a fire, we moved 100 horses,” she recalls. “And we didn’t just do it once. We did it over and over again.”
Armed with nothing but wire cutters, she and others cut through chains to free panicked horses, herding them to fairgrounds or rodeo grounds where they could at least be safe for the moment. They shuttled 400 head of cattle until the BC Cattlemen’s Association could send trucks to move them properly.
Horses and cattle were let loose in safer areas, and then the crew went back toward the flames to rescue more — dumping them, and then turning around again until every animal was at least out of immediate danger.
“That was the whole summer,” Marie says. “Move them once. Then move them again. And the truth is, there was nowhere to take them. Everyone was trying to save their own. Who wants to leave their horses behind to go help move someone else’s?”
Marie told me she was one of the lucky ones — she didn’t lose her home. But she learned hard lessons she still carries today.
A bug-out bag (or grab-and-go bag) is a backpack or duffel pre-packed with essentials to keep you safe for 24 to 48 hours if you need to leave in a hurry. Keep it by the door, ready to go.
Bedding as bags: Quilts, duvets or blankets can bundle belongings fast.
If you have animals, plan for them, too.
The biggest danger: complacency
As wildfire seasons grow longer and disasters become more unpredictable, complacency may be the real enemy.
“Most people think it would never happen to me,” says firefighter and first responder Connie Knot.
Marie agrees: “After watching homes burn and entire communities evacuate, I know how quickly life can change.”
Stay informed: For emergency updates, follow:
Stay safe.
Monika Rekola is a certified landscape designer and horticulturist, passionate about gardening, sustainable living and the great outdoors. Contact her at [email protected].
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