Evacuation order stays in place for mobile home park

An evacuation order remains in place for 25 homes in Penticton due to due to an unstable rock embedded in a cliff above the Pleasant Valley Mobile Home Park.

The city says crews continue work on developing a plan for coping with the unstable rock at the site on Penticton Avenue.

“With the assessment complete, we’re now able to begin the steps towards stabilizing the site and ensuring residents are safe in their homes,” Emergency Operations Centre director Kristen Dixon said. “We want to resolve this expediently and with as little disruption as possible but the safety of the residents, their homes and crews comes first.”

Crews have begun the first step in the process which is raising the existing retaining wall to provide protection against any potential rock fall. Once that work is completed today, the next steps to stabilizing the unstable rock will be developed.

Emergency Support Services has been extended for another 24 hours for residents of the impacted homes. So far, 37 people have registered with ESS. Anyone who hasn’t yet registered can do so by calling 250-328-8749 or emailing ess@penticton.ca

“As the work progresses, we will continue to assess the status of the evacuation order and provide updates to the impacted residents and the public as required,” Dixon said. “Our hope is that once the wall is extended, we will be able to reduce the evacuation order but we won’t make that decision until tomorrow (Thursday).”