Inmates and machines have been added to the infantry fighting floods in the South Okanagan, with the latter expected to help build up to 6,000 sandbags an hour.
The B.C. Public Safety Ministry said the Okanagan Correctional Centre is not in danger of flooding, but inmates have been helping to pack about 250 sandbags per day.
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen emergency operations centre added the inmates have built a number of 鈥渟ix-shooters,鈥� tools with six slots to help fill multiple sandbags at once. Those have been sent around the region to assist with manual sandbagging.
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鈥淥riginally the plan was that we would have that location as the primary location for all of our sandbags, but we quickly realized with the volume that there was a limitation on real estate and they didn鈥檛 actually have a big enough yard,鈥� said Debra Paulhus with the RDOS emergency operations centre.
Colin Hynes with B.C. Public Safety said this is the first time the inmates have done work with sandbagging, but the open-custody inmates 鈥� only available to low-risk inmates 鈥� have worked elsewhere in the community.
鈥淟ast year, inmates performed weed eradication work for the city of Osoyoos, which OCC provided at no cost to the town. This year, the work crew will again be providing weed eradication in both Osoyoos and Oliver.鈥�
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Hynes said other work inmates have done includes maintaining local trails, collecting roadside garbage, community cleanup and helping with projects or events when requested by non-profits.
Octopus sandbag filler has arrived in Oliver, BC.
鈥� RDOS EOC (@EmergMgtRDOS)
But because the need is greater than what inmates and B.C. Wildfire Service can provide manually, Paulhus said the RDOS ordered an 鈥渙ctopus鈥� sandbagging machine, also sometimes referred to as a 鈥渟pider鈥� sandbagger. The machine includes a dozen chutes to pour sand down, filling multiple bags at a time 鈥� and can help pack up to 6,000 sandbags per hour.
That adds up to five sandbags every three seconds. With 12 chutes, that means each chute is filling a sandbag every 7.2 seconds.
鈥淥ur target is to do 100,000 sandbags that are filled and palletized and ready to deploy as needed,鈥� Paulhus said.
Hynes said the inmates will be receiving training to work with the equipment, which Paulhus said will be located in a secured area at the Oliver airport, though Paulhus was not able to confirm plans to use inmates for that work.
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