LETTER – An apology to Juniper residents from the City’s CAO
City CAO Dave Trawin.
Letter written in response to Juniper resident Haley Isotalo’s letter published earlier today (July 6, 2021):
I have had time to reflect and will be issuing a formal apology tomorrow at a press event.
I didn’t mean my words to be insensitive at all but apparently they were to you and several others in Juniper and I am actually sick about it. I cannot imagine the fear and the anxiety that you went through that night. And I should’ve taken that into account more when I spoke.
The point I was trying to make, which I did a horrible job of, was that not all of Juniper was under a tactical evacuation according to incident command, the fire chief and assistant fire chief. They further advised me that no one in their vehicles were in danger while evacuating and if they were in danger then the emergency access routes would have been utilized.
I could have been clearer in my intent and chosen my words better and been much more sensitive. I am sorry for your trauma and am truly glad you, your family and home are safe.
My apologies to you and all Juniper residents.
DAVID TRAWIN, MURP, BA
The fear came from not knowing anything about the threat. All most people could see was a bright red glow as the fire light reflected off it’s own smoke.I sat on my veranda and saw the lightening strike and reported it. It was only minutes until fire light was visibly reflected. The fire dept was here very shortly after .Thus aleaviating the tension . Those on Quappelle and Skeena were never in any immanent danger . I knew that because I have had some experience and understood the potentials. Others in their cars and even in their homes were not informed .The only realistic evac was from Nechako . After that any assessed need for evac should have been a staged ,ordered one from juniper east. the police indeed should have prevented the panic from J west. This amount of traffic flowing into the roundabout overwhelmed it’s capacity. I believe it must be redesigned .Opening the counter flow center lane should have been done much earlier .There are many things that need to be corrected before any new potential disasters.
For our city’s CAO to offer an apology so quickly and earnestly proves that we have the right man for the job. It is a rare thing that anyone in our city administration apologizes. It takes a man of good character to publicly admit he made a mistake and is willing to take the responsibility for it. Thankyou Mr. Trawin for your honesty.
I think Mr. Trawin is indeed a very good man, working under a lot of stress. I hope his health doesn’t get further impacted.
Well … that was quick.