qathet region’s FireSmart program is looking for City of Powell River’s support to continue its operations.
At the November 29 committee of the whole meeting, Ryan Thoms, qathet Regional District manager of emergency services, said the regional emergency preparedness service operates a FireSmart program across the region, including in the city.
“We’ve been doing so for approximately seven years,” said Thoms. “The FireSmart program strives to build resiliency for our communities and to protect us against disastrous wildfire events that we’ve seen across North America with increasing frequency.
“Our focus has been on education, providing home and property assessments and even rebates for our residential property owners, but also interagency training, firefighter training and fuel treatments in applicable areas.”
Thoms said the program is reliant on provincial funding that is available to communities across BC. He said in order to maintain eligibility for that, a current community wildfire plan is required.
“Our current plan, which was created in 2015, is quickly approaching its 10th anniversary and at that point it is going to be generally understood by the province to be at the tail-end of eligibility,” added Thoms. “We need to get on the process now toward rewriting a new community wildfire plan. A lot of things have changed across the region in 10 years.”
Thoms said going into next year, the plan is to maintain the FireSmart program, with emphasis on public education across the region, while at the same time, initiating a new community wildfire resiliency plan. He said that process will take the better part of two years to complete.
Thoms said there has also been a request of FireSmart from the city’s planning department to provide some assistance with development permit areas, to give some advice around FireSmart in developments.
Thoms said he is seeking support from the city in the application to Union of British Columbia Municipalities for funding. Support has already come from the regional district and Tla’amin Nation, according to Thoms.
Mayor Ron Woznow said the Fort McMurray fire in 2016 made him think about tree areas around the city. He asked if that is something that would normally be addressed.
Thoms said events like Fort McMurray and a lot of other difficult events are exactly the reason why this region is involved in FireSmart.
“How you deal with it is really a little more complicated,” said Thoms. “For us, there is no exact cookie cutter for any community’s fire. You need to get experts on the ground, assess where your risks are, looking at your fuel types and development patterns. We have to understand our egress.
“The nice thing about our coastal environment is there are a lot of winnable solutions here, but there is also a need for education and making the right choices.”
The committee voted to send the matter to city council for endorsement.
