After seeing 10 homes and 26 structures lost during the 2017 wildfires a volunteer fire department in the Cariboo is being proactive to prepare for the future.
On Tuesday evening the Miocene Volunteer Fire Dept. hosted a FireSmart information session presented by the Cariboo Fire Centre (CFC).
Captain Jason Ward joined the fire department in November after buying a home at Rose Lake in September and said he’s taken over the forestry portion of the department and part of that means building a relationship with the CFC.
“That’s why we’ve invited some of their staff to come out and do this education in our community,” Ward said in advance of the presentation. “We are trying to build a relationship so they know us and we know them so that next time there’s an incident we will have that already in place.”
Cariboo Fire Centre wildfire officer Matt Sherlock, wildfire prevention officer Rory Colwell and information officer Jessica Mack attended the meeting.
Sherlock said it was the first time they were presenting the new 2018 FireSmart powerpoint and Miocene was the first fire department to invite them.
“FireSmart is about living with and managing wildfire on our landscapes and it has been evolving over the last 40 years,” Sherlock said.
Education, emergency planning, interagency co-operation, cross-training, fuels management, legislation and planning and development considerations are all components of the newest FireSmart approach, he added.
Colwell said when it comes to FireSmarting sometimes people may ask why they should care, but in 2009 there was fire in 70 Mile House on May 2 that demonstrated how even the littlest things can make a difference.
“The property was FireSmarted, but an outbuilding was lost because along some of the fences they hadn’t weedwhacked,” he explained. “The fire followed dead grass to a pallet of lumber beside the garage.”
When examining properties, owners have to always be thinking about fire transfer, Colwell added.
It is important, Sherlock added, to provide defendable space around houses and ensure they are free of combustible materials.
When the fires broke out in the Cariboo Chilcotin on July 6 and 7, 2017 Sherlock was in Kelowna doing flood work.
“It took me 24 hours to get back to Williams Lake and the next day I was blowing the leaves off my roof and eaves,” he said.
Ward said the fire department has been doing some FireSmarting work around the fire hall to create a staging area.
Miocene firefighter Brock McMartin brought his power pole pruner to the meeting and said he has been using it to prune trees around the fire hall in an effort to reduce fuels.
The department has also purchased sprinkler kits for community members to buy which can be attached to an eave trough, and firefighter Phil Lotzer was there with a display of them.
Sprinklers worked to protect homes in the summer of 2017 during the Spokin Lake Miocene fire, said Kevin Bendickson, the department’s training officer.
“We had embers that made it three to four kilometres,” he said.
Sherlock said Miocene was the first fire department to come forward and ask for a FireSmart presentation.
During the question and answer portion of the presentation several concerns were raised by community members.
Read More: Category 3 fires to be banned in Cariboo Fire Centre starting April 23
With the Cariboo Fire Centre’s category 3 fire ban going into effect on Monday, April 23, many people still have a foot of snow on the ground and have not had the opportunity to do any burning, one resident said.
When one resident asked about Crown land that is adjacent to a property that has fuel hazards Colwell encouraged her and other residents to contact the Cariboo Fire Centre with their concerns.
Rancher Merv Furlong said it will be difficult to FireSmart the area because of the fact many people own five and 10-acre parcels of land.
“Forty years ago, we as cattlemen knew what was going to happen. Nothing against any individual that bought the lots, they didn’t have any choice with the lot size, and a lot of them had good intentions. Well it’s been proven, long before me, that most people use half an acre and the rest grows into grass and weeds.”
Spokin Lake Road is an example of that scenario, he said, noting they have the same problem down in the Kamloops area.
FireSmart is probably the only tool that will make a difference in the Spokin Lake Miocene area, Sherlock said.
“It’s a tough spot out here and if we don’t start getting ahead of it and doing something preventative we are going to see more structure loss.”
People planning to light an open fire are encouraged to visit the BC Wildfire Service website and consult the B.C. FireSmart Homeowner’s Manual.
