In 2023, Kamloops Fire Rescue conducted 87 FireSmart assessments in the community. Property owners were equipped with the FireSmart tools and provided with information on how their properties could be improved and protected.

The main focus has been sharing the importance of keeping a 1.5 m, combustible-free zone around houses. This is the most important step, followed by removing all cedar and juniper trees within 10 m of the house.

A great example of how a FireSmart assessment can be successful is from a 2022 assessment. ؙKamloops Fire Rescue provided a letter of support in an application for a Community Wildfire Prevention Grant submitted by Arbutus Estate Villas, located in the Guerin Creek subdivision. The strata applied for the grant based on the assessment that Kamloops Fire Rescue provided. The strata was awarded a $15,000 grant that was used to remove the cedar hedges on the property and replace them with FireSmart landscape vegetation and materials.

FireSmart assessments will continue to be offered throughout 2024. The goal is to grow the program and continue to educate individual residents, strata owners, and neighbourhood associations to present information seminars.

In addition to residential FireSmart efforts and education, the City’s Green Space and Natural Resource Section works throughout the year on the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, a well-planned, sustainable prevention and preparedness program that reduces wildfire risks in our natural areas within city boundaries. The plan specifically addresses municipal and public lands, not privately owned land. In 2023, staff treated 25 ha of land in Barnhartvale and began work on the last 10 ha in Kenna Cartwright Park, as identified in the plan.

The plan outlines the following goals:

• identify and quantify the forestland wildfire threats that directly impact on the developed land within the City of Kamloops
• identify and map all possible fuel management treatment areas within approximately 200 m of developed areas, which would assist in reducing the wildfire threats in the area
• establish fuel management guidelines for the City of Kamloops to allow quantifiable assessments of past fuel management activities to ensure fuel treatments meet a consistent standard over time and identify maintenance priorities
• prioritize new fuel management activities and a maintenance schedule for past treatment units
• identify opportunities to improve wildfire suppression access to the Crown land surrounding the community
• ensure all fuel management activities recognize the important recreational and visual values of the forested land in and around the City of Kamloops
• increase awareness of the unique wildfire threats in the City of Kamloops area

The City of Kamloops and Kamloops Fire Rescue would like to thank all of the residents and strata councils that requested assessments this past year. Every step taken towards “FireSmarting” our homes contributes to safer neighbourhoods for everyone.