It’s time to get FireSmart about wildfires in BC. Is your community ready for this year’s fire season? We’re here to help make sure you’re prepared when and where it counts.” FireSmart BC
Book a Free FireSmart Home Assessment
Research has shown that a house with both a fire resistant roof and a FireSmart zone surrounding it is 90 percent more likely to survive a wildfire than one that lacks these features.
Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan (CWRP)
What is a Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan?
The Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans (CWRP) build upon previous planning activities completed through the 2010 Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) while adding objectives that align with the seven FireSmart disciplines. These Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans are intended for the designated one-kilometer wildland urban interface (WUI) surrounding each community and will be used as a measure to improve wildfire preparedness and mitigate losses from possible emergency events.
The plans will serve as a guide and identify several potential wildfire related issues and actions to mitigate these risks and reduce fire hazard in and around the various communities through the promotion of FireSmart awareness.
Finally, the plans will support the various communities within the RDKB in their efforts to achieve a consistent, comprehensive approach towards wildfire risk reduction and resiliency measures within their communities. The following are key goals of the CWRP process:
- increase the community’s understanding of and response capacity to wildfire risk
- improve collaboration across administrative boundaries and organizations
- respond to the needs of the community according to their priorities
- develop achievable action items that will reduce wildfire risks and improve the community’s overall resiliency.
- be a flexible framework that allows for community collaboration and increase rile from all interested community members to play their part in FireSmart
These plans will be reviewed annually to monitor implementation progress and determine actions and priorities for the coming year. Every five years this plan will be updated or reworked with new goals and priorities that reflect the needs of the community and progress made under the term of this plan. In 2022, the RDKB retained the services of Frontline Operations Group Ltd. to develop new CWRPs for our 5 Electoral Areas within the RDKB.
2022 Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans:
This year (2023), the RDKB has retained the services of B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. to develop new CWRPs for 6 of our municipalities that do not currently have a plan. These municipalities include the Village of Fruitvale, Village of Montrose, City of Trail, Village of Warfield, City of Grand Forks, and the City of Greenwood. Estimated date of completion is April 2024. The City of Rossland, and the Village of Midway have had plans completed within the last 5 years and can be viewed on their municipal websites.
RDKB FireSmart Videos
We spent some time with some of our RDKB fire service personnel, residents, and our FireSmart Coordinator to learn about the RDKB’s FireSmart program, how residents can implement the FireSmart principles on their own property, and why FireSmart is a shared responsibility. Check out our RDKB FireSmart Program Video segments below, or view the video in its entirety at the bottom