FireSmart

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FireSmart wood chipper

FireSmart is living with and managing for wildfire in your area and on your property. Becoming wildfire resilient is a shared responsibility across BC. FireSmart and its seven disciplines is an all-encompassing program, extending from the individual homeowner level up to a landscape land management level. FireSmart principles have shown that they are effective at reducing the risk to life and property in the most extreme wildfire conditions. The FireSmart program is backed by a vast amount of field, laboratory and wildfire modelling research. Its methods help reduce the risk of losses under even the most extreme fire conditions.

The City aggressively pursues wildfire threat reduction treatments on BC Crown and Municipal Crown lands within the City boundaries. These varied treatments include salvage harvesting, basic pine removal activity with heavy equipment, hand crew treatments involving danger tree removal, spacing and pruning, and surface fuel reduction activities.

Wildfire threat reduction efforts are not conducted to stop all fires, as this is not realistic or achievable. The objective is to:

  • use forest fuel management techniques to alter wildfire behaviour on the forested land adjacent to developments to greatly reduce the potential for house and structure losses
  • create safe access for wildland fire crews to more efficiently and effectively control wildfires
  • construct and maintain houses that are designed to withstand a wildfire

FireSmart is living with and managing for wildfire in your area and on your property. Becoming wildfire resilient is a shared responsibility across BC. FireSmart and its seven disciplines is an all-encompassing program, extending from the individual homeowner level up to a landscape land management level. FireSmart principles have shown that they are effective at reducing the risk to life and property in the most extreme wildfire conditions. The FireSmart program is backed by a vast amount of field, laboratory and wildfire modelling research. Its methods help reduce the risk of losses under even the most extreme fire conditions.

The City aggressively pursues wildfire threat reduction treatments on BC Crown and Municipal Crown lands within the City boundaries. These varied treatments include salvage harvesting, basic pine removal activity with heavy equipment, hand crew treatments involving danger tree removal, spacing and pruning, and surface fuel reduction activities.

Wildfire threat reduction efforts are not conducted to stop all fires, as this is not realistic or achievable. The objective is to:

  • use forest fuel management techniques to alter wildfire behaviour on the forested land adjacent to developments to greatly reduce the potential for house and structure losses
  • create safe access for wildland fire crews to more efficiently and effectively control wildfires
  • construct and maintain houses that are designed to withstand a wildfire

Q & A

Do you have a question about how to FireSmart your property to reduce the impact of wildfire to your home or property? Before asking your question, please review the questions on this page or in our FAQs.

This is not a tool for reporting wildfire or requesting immediate assistance. In the case of an emergency, please dial 9-1-1.

Read before posting: Questions may be posted publicly once they are answered. Please ensure your questions are clear, concise, and relevant. While you may ask multiple questions, only include one question per post to ensure clear answers. Questions are to be respectful and abide by the moderation policy of the Let's Talk engagement website. We will do our best to respond within three business days. Submissions that do not meet these requests may not be answered or posted. 

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    Does the city of Kamloops have a rebate program for the cost of removing pine trees that are recommended for removal by a fire smart assessment

    Jford asked 4 months ago

    At this point in time, our FireSmart programs only offers free assessments. As our local FireSmart program continues to grow, we hope to be able to create an incentive program in the future to offer to those that undertake FireSmart work their properties.

    The City does offer tree coupons on a first come, first serve basis, at participating retailers, while quantities last. Tree coupons are required to be used by June 15 annually. For information on this program, please visit Kamloops.ca/TreeCoupon.

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    How will owners of private vacant lots that are overgrown be held to account? Not just small areas, but large areas of several acres that have substantial brush buildup.

    southeastPerson asked 4 months ago

    FireSmart is an educational campaign to create awareness and encourage property owners to evaluate their property and the fire risks it may possess. Unfortunately, Kamloops Fire Rescue does not knock on doors to enforce property cleanup. If you are comfortable, we encourage you to have a conversation with your neighbour about your concerns that their property presents to your neighbourhood and let them know that we are happy to do a free FireSmart assessment.

    If your concern is related to your neighbours property being an ‘unsightly property’ under the Good Neighbour Bylaw No.49-1 and the property resides within City limit, you can submit your concerns to Community Services online at Kamloops.ca/BylawComplaints and a Community Services Officer can investigate and speak with the property owner.

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    What resources exist for low income, physically disabled or elderly residents who want to maintain their property in a FireSmart way?

    southeastPerson asked 4 months ago

    We recognize that those who are physically disabled or elderly may have a challenge to apply the physical work that may be identified in a FireSmart assessment. We also acknowledge that not everyone has the means to apply FireSmart principals with a monetary cost. At this point in time, our FireSmart programs only offers free assessments. We hope to be able to offer incentives as our program grows to provide additional assistance to those that need it.

    If you require assistance applying FireSmart principles to your property, consider asking friends or family for help or inquire with your Neighbourhood Community Association to see if there are volunteers in your neighbourhood that may be able to donate time to assist.

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    Does the city clear out the safe brush on their property?

    Johnnie Parkin asked 5 months ago

    The City of Kamloops ranks its green spaces in a low-medium-high risk to wildfire system. As time and budget allows, these spaces are treated with their fuel mitigation practices. Sage brush is a local plant, that if deemed needed, will be removed, but often they are just left to their natural life cycle.

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    Does the city clean their areas?areas near my place have a lot of pine needles and logs left from when they were cut down few yrs ago.

    merisa asked 5 months ago

    The City does indeed clean certain areas. If an area has been part of a fuel mitigation plan, trees, stumps, etc. that are left on the ground are part of the plan and/or natural landscape. As for needles, while they do present a small fire load, there are higher priorities areas in town, and higher risk loads where our resources are delegated to. The best thing that you, as a homeowner can do, is request a free FireSmart assessment—we will arrange a visit with you at your property to evaluate and explain the steps that will keep your home safe should the area of concern experience burn activity.

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    Where is Kamloops focusing on FireSmart'ing non-privately-owned properties before fire season ramps up this year?

    hdsheena asked 5 months ago

    Fuel mitigation is a very integral part of the City of Kamloops' FireSmart plan. Every year, as budget allows, fuel mitigation and prescribed burns are carried out in targeted areas. This happens early spring until the end of March and then begins again in the fall. Through an in-depth scoring system, greenspaces within City limits are ranked according to risk, and slated for mitigation. This spring, projects have been started and completed in Juniper, Sahali, Aberdeen, and Pineview. Burns are only permitted during proper burning index days, and must be observed by a specified number of people per burn pile.

Page last updated: 26 Aug 2022, 12:11 PM