The greatest chance of success for the local FireSmart program to succeed is for the community to get behind it, said a consultant with the firm that has helped develop a plan for the local initiative.
“The biggest thing here is getting people involved other than just fire department people,” said Nolan Duguid, an environmental technician with CPP Environmental, during a Tuesday, May 10 public engagement session held at the Sundre Legion.
“We want people from the community to start going out and spreading the word of FireSmart,” he told about a dozen people who attended the meeting, which was a far greater turnout than previous similar open houses that were scarcely attended. Residents are encouraged to take measures to FireSmart their own homes as well as talk to friends and neighbours about taking similar steps, he added.
With all the surrounding forest, grass and agricultural land in this area, the vegetation, which of course provides fuel for wildfire, is the highest concern, he said.
But one of the main challenges with a community like Sundre when it comes to wildfire mitigation and planning is that most of the land in the area is privately owned. That can be difficult to get around because grant funding available through the FireSmart program is only available for projects on public lands, he said.
“So what we've tried to do instead of that is an education process — try and get people to know what FireSmart is on their landscaping.”
Some of the pointers highlighted in educational material distributed at the meeting include contacting the local utility company if trees or branches are not clear of power lines, keeping a watchful eye on firepits and burn barrels when they are in use, ensuring chimneys are up to code with a spark arresting screen installed, removing all long grass, shrubs, logs, branches, twigs and needles within 10 metres of a home as well as having a nearby water supply for emergencies.
The steps outlined will never make a home or structure completely “fireproof” because a fire can reach an intensity in which it can still burn or damage a house. However, “what we can do is put your home in the best position to survive if a wildfire event does occur in that area,” said Duguid.
Anyone building a home or thinking about renovations should consider using less flammable finishes such as stucco, metal, brick or concrete as opposed to wood or vinyl, as well as class A, B or C rated fire resistant roofing material. Maintaining a property in such a way that a wide enough path is left clear for firefighters and emergency responders is also important should the time come to protect the structure from fire, he said.
“One thing you'll learn as you read about FireSmart is that one of the biggest things that starts structure fires is fire embers.”
A large wildfire burning far away can send ahead burning debris over great distances, he said.
“Embers in large fire events can travel for kilometres ahead of the natural fire.”
While those embers cannot be controlled, what property owners can do is make sure their buildings have fewer potential sources of fuel for those embers to ignite up against or near a structure, he said.
“You're looking at removing firewood, enclosing your decks is a big one, using non-flammable materials — your roofing material is one of the biggest concerns when it comes to fire, so having a low combustible material such as asphalt shingles, anything that's fire rated will provide more protection.”
There is no shortage of information available out there, and “it's now onto the public to start taking that and trying to run with it,” he said.
Finding volunteers to establish and keep alive a local FireSmart committee is also crucial. There are stakeholders in the community who have expressed support for the initiative, “but for it to really take hold, we need to start getting the community involved and finding leaders in the community who want to grasp the FireSmart concept, go to their neighbours and push that message.”
Courses are available so people can learn the principles of the FireSmart program. Once that information is in people's hands, they can start acting as leaders in the community, he said.
Aside from public education, there are also projects that aim to impact fire behaviours by modifying the available sources of fuel. That might mean removing certain trees and deadfall, converting or re-vegetating areas with species that are not as flammable, as well as thinning and pruning. These measures all help to reduce a wildfire's ability to continue to crown through trees — the blaze might still go up a tree, but not be as likely to jump over to the next tree and spread, he said.
Since the grant funding is only available for public lands, the main areas that the consultants focused on in their mitigation strategy were Snake Hill and along the Red Deer River — essentially anywhere there's municipal land where a project could be undertaken to show what a thinning project, for example, would look like, he said.
“It'll provide the general public with ideas for what people can do on their own property.”
The Raven Brood Trout Hatchery near Caroline is a good example of a site that strives to be FireSmart, said Kristofer Heemeryck, a wildfire protection officer for Rocky Mountain House.
“Some of their trails show examples of thinning and pruning,” he said, adding the hatchery's operators are also working on other issues around the structure.
“The house isn't perfect, but no house that exists today is unless you build it specifically for FireSmart,” he said.
“So how do you make what you have the best it can be?”
The maintenance involved in making a property FireSmart is an ongoing effort — it's not just a matter of tidying things up once, but actually taking the time every year to reduce the risk of wildfire, he said.
One of the questions raised by the public was regarding whether people caught burning or riding off-highway vehicles during a ban are fined. This issue largely comes down to enforcement, as officers can't be everywhere, he said.
There was also a question about possible evacuation routes in the event of a catastrophic wildfire, but there are many roads — paved or gravel — that lead safely out of Sundre, said Duguid.
The end goal is for Sundre to have a mitigation strategy approved by council that has the recommendations outlined by the consultants, he said.
“From there, you can start accessing funding to achieve the goals and recommendations outlined in the plan,” which will in turn be reviewed every five to 10 years, he said.
The mitigation strategy is a guiding document to start working on FireSmart, and it can be changed or adjusted over time as required, he said.
Following a question regarding how the grant funding for FireSmart works, he said monies for outside the forest protection area are delivered through an organization called the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta, which is funded by the provincial government.
“They have funding for the next few years.”
Having the support of people like Sundre's fire Chief Marty Butts, who largely spearheaded the local FireSmart initiative, officers like Heemeryck as well as the local council, combined with a mitigation strategy, are all important when applying for a grant, he said.
“I can tell you this year it seems to have gotten quite competitive” even before the Fort McMurray wildfire, he said.
Government officials rank requests by priority and where they think “they'll get the best bang for their buck. What will be a big help is having community participation. It really helps the process when there's actual public involved and you're showing that FireSmart is actually important to the community itself,” he said.
Visit www.sundrefiresmart.com for more information about the program, including detailed steps that homeowners can take to reduce the potential threat of wildfire to their properties.
