Inside wildfire structural protection unit trailer (photo/W.A.S.P. Industries)

By Kevin Rothwell

Could be rented out

Coldstream upgrades wildfire structural protection unit

Mar 15, 2021 | 6:00 AM

With the potential of forest interface fires in many areas of Coldstream, the district’s council has moved to upgrade equipment and training for its type-two wildfire structural protection unit (WSPU).

“The equipment has been acquired by the district but, in 2019, it was identified that the unit could also be contracted out to other areas of the province when not in use. In order for the unit to qualify for this type of deployment, it would require the purchase of $26,496 in additional equipment,” Protective Services Coordinator Keith Green reported to council.

The 2020 rental rate charged for a WSPU was $8,245 per day.

The additional funds from a provincial COVID-19 restart grant will be used to purchase forestry firefighting helmets and provide provincial certification.

The protection unit is housed in a 20-foot trailer, and stores enough gear to protect 100 homes, including several hundred sprinklers, 15,000 feet of hose of different types, four pumps and generators.

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The system attaches to the rain gutters of a building, or on a bracket, and has an 80-foot spray radius.

In a wildfire event, 80 to 90 per cent of lost property results from embers landing on the roof and starting fires.