A wildfire becomes much more manageable without sufficient sources of fuel to feed and help spread its flames.
That's why part of the FireSmart plan currently being developed for Sundre includes considering ways to encourage landowners to ensure their properties are clear of debris like dry, dead brush.
A lightly attended meeting to further discuss plans was held Tuesday, March 22 at the Sundre Legion. Although the effort to proactively protect Sundre from the potential threat of wildfire is ongoing — the next and last public engagement session with consultants is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10 starting at 7 p.m. at the Sundre Legion — fire Chief Marty Butts hopes to see more public involvement.
During the March meeting with CPP Environmental consultation firm, Butts said the town's assessment was wrapped up and that hazardous areas have been highlighted in order to obtain grant funding to move forward to do the actual work on the ground, he said.
As discussed during a previous meeting, the fire chief still wants to offer the public a chipping program, which depending on how it works out could become an annual event so people would always know when the cleanup is. The FireSmart grant funding allows work to be done on public spaces but not private land, so the idea is to offer a chipping program that private landowners can put to use, he said.
Although getting the public engaged has been a challenge, Butts said the answer might be to roll out the program and establish a routine that people can get used to.
“We are trying, but we need the public's help,” he said, adding that making a community FireSmart is a big undertaking that needs support from residents.
Following the last meeting with the consultants in May, CPP will present its final report and situational analysis for Sundre's fire potential, which in turn will open the door to begin applying for grants so work can get underway, he said.
The report will point to the main areas where efforts should be concentrated. While some places are decent, others including Snake Hill could benefit from some additional cleanup. The community would face a serious risk if it were cut off from the water treatment plant located there in the event of a wildfire. Other areas such as high-density RV parks located in and immediately around Sundre have hundreds of motorhomes nestled into the forest, he said.
“Those are ones we want to concentrate on too,” he said, adding the RV parks would pose a difficult situation to deal with if a major fire swept through.
“We want to get the high-risk areas done first, and that's what that report is going to show.”
Additionally, the CPP consultants have been asked to make part of Sundre's FireSmart plan a two-kilometre buffer that includes land in Sundre and Mountain View County, he said.
While the next meeting in May will be the last with the consultants, FireSmart planning will continue afterwards at the local level. During the last meeting in March, the consultants used real-time weather conditions and historical weather patterns to demonstrate through a computer model how quickly a wildfire could grow and spread in fictional scenarios that involved Snake Hill and RV parks, he said.
“We have a good understanding of what we could be up against.”
The fire chief remains optimistic that the public will become more supportive of helping to make Sundre a FireSmart community. Keeping this initiative alive is important, and through programs like the proposed wood chipping event, “pretty soon people will understand this is what a FireSmart community looks like.”
