FireSmart preparedness campaign has blunt message

May 2, 2021 | 1:00 PM

The snow has mostly melted across B.C. and people are getting back out in their yards and neighbourhoods.

Local and provincial initiatives are underway to help people living in forested areas to be prepared for fire season.

B.C. FireSmart describes it as a critical time to communicate the message of wildfire preparedness and mitigation, before wildfire season comes.

The message is now is the time to safeguard your home or business ahead of this year’s wildfire season, and practical advice is readily available to help you do it yourself.

The advertising campaign will use both new and traditional media to hammer messages home under a simple but sobering observation: “The homes that are prepared are the homes left standing”.

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The organization has produced a new interactive homeowners manual, with information from prevention experts, firefighters and risk management personnel.

Available free of charge, the guide provides homeowners with crucial information on how wildfires grow and spread, how to spot vulnerabilities in a structure, and keeping fuel sources a safe distance away.

Vernon Fire Rescue Service has also produced a new guide titled ‘Wildfire Risk Reduction in the North Okanagan,’ which is available on the City of Vernon website.

Fire fuel reduction work was done along Eastside and Tronson Roads over the winter, and B.C. Parks also did mitigation work in Ellison Provincial Park to remove dead trees and underbrush.

Wildland urban interface graphic (photo credit: City of Vernon)

In developing the wildland urban interface report, it was recognized there was a gap in information regarding large lots and private forested lands.

“Vernon has many of these types of properties within its boundaries, and treatment of the lands could have a significant positive impact for the community as a whole. To help fill the gap, and as a tool to facilitate conversation, the city engaged Robert Gray of Fire Ecology Consulting to develop a resource targeted to the land owners,” Fire Chief David Lind reported to Vernon council.

by Kevin Rothwell

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