ROCKY VIEW— Helping prevent the heart-breaking damage created by uncontrolled wildfires can start with small steps residents take to FireSmart their home.
Fire safety can be top of mind year-round, said Rocky View County Fire Department district chief Marcus Weckesser, and there are actions rural residents can take to help keep the area safe from wildfires.
“The whole idea behind fire smarting is we’re trying to increase the odds of your property being not damaged in a wildfire event,” Weckesser said. “Fire smarting is designed to try to increase those odds.”
Simple steps include contacting a utility company to clear trees or branches touching power lines, keeping a watchful eye of fire pits or burn barrels when in use, ensuring a roof is free of needles and leaves and no trees or branches that could catch fire are overhead, keeping a chimney up to code and installing an arresting screen, removing long grass, shrub, logs, branches, twigs and needles that fall within 10-metres of a home, having a nearby water supply for emergencies and storing firewood a minimum of 10-metres from any structures.
“FireSmart begins at home,” Weckesser said. “It’s basically up to individuals doing a little bit at a time on their own property to try to mitigate the hazard.”
Additional actions include ensuring the address or lot number are easily visible for Emergency Services, regularly mowing and watering grass within 10-metres of a building, keeping tools handy that could assist in protecting homes from wildfires, pruning the first two metres of branches on tree trunks, removing vegetation near power lines or fuel supplies, planting resistant trees like aspen, birch or poplar and closing any exposed eaves, vents or soffits on a home,
The final step in fire mitigation is moving propane tanks at least 10-metres away from a structure, adding fire-resistant materials to the underside of balconies, decks and crawlspaces, keeping trees at least three-metres away from either side of a driveway, installing tempered or thermal windows, providing emergency access to and from your property, choosing less-flammable finishes for a home and using only Class A, B or C rated fire-resistant roofing materials.
“We’re not telling anybody that you cannot live in the forest,” Weckesser said. “Let’s thin the fuels a little bit, so we take some of the heat out of it and reduce some of the ember transmission so it makes your house a little more survivable.”
Residents are not expected to tackle all these projects in the space of one year, he said, but if all residents chip away at fire mitigation actions on their properties it can make a big difference if a wildfire erupts in their area.
Rocky View County works with residents to help FireSmart properties and has worked on its own properties to reduce potential fire hazards.
“It is a beautiful forest and it is gorgeous out there— We want that to remain,” Weckesser said. “We just want to reduce the hazard a little bit.”
If one sees smoke or fire, Weckesser said to call 310-FIRE immediately or call 911.
It is critical firefighters get on the ground and contain a blaze as soon as possible.
A small fire can grow to the size of one or two hectares within minutes if the conditions are right— Quickly becoming more challenging to manage.
“It’s best to get fire services going as soon as possible. It’s easier to put out when it’s smaller than when it gains size,” Weckesser said. “When it gains size it puts out more heat and it becomes a force to be reckoned with.”
Weckesser recommended residents follow The Greater Bragg Creek FireSmart Committee on Facebook @GBCFireSmart for more tips on fire mitigation steps.
