The wildfires are already burning in our area, and they are already known to be caused by human activity.
With conditions so dry, so early, everyone involved in forest fire prevention is on high alert.
Preparing your property to reduce the risk of your buildings burning is one way to take your own action to help. Entire neighbourhoods have been working together to implement the best practices. One of them in Quesnel, South Hills, is a fully recognized FireSmart BC neighbourhood.
But even a single home can be protected, or be the buffer needed to slow a large fire down as it threatens many. North Cariboo FireSmart coordinator Ted Traer said the results have been proven, in this area, after so many wildfire incidents in recent years.
He said the best way to approach wildfire risk reduction around your home is to measure out circles, starting with the zone from your outer walls to the 1.5 metre mark (five feet). Make sure there’s nothing combustable in that zone, all the way around. No decorative cedar shrubs, no bark mulch, no woodpiles, no wooden garden gnomes, no hemp doormats, unless they can be swiftly removed. (But what if you’re not at home when the fire breaks out?)
“Most homes ignite from flying embers landing on a combustible fuel source,” he said. “This zone should be composed of dirt, rock, gravel, concrete or asphalt, as this is where the majority of embers would land in close proximity to a structure.”
The next circular zone would extend from there out to the 10-metre mark (33 feet).
“In this area no trees are recommended as they can be highly combustible and can cause ignition to our homes,” said Traer. Watch out for combustible lawn furniture, propane tanks, etc. in this wider zone. And watch out for fire fuel in doorway alcoves, carports, decks, roofline intersections, buildup inside eaves troughs, and other points where the blizzard of embers might blow.
There are many plants that resist fire that can be used for visual personality, so it doesn’t have to be a barren landscape.
Once past that zone, that’s where the pruning and planting can be done strategically. Placing deciduous trees is one of the better landscaping choices. And creating a non-flammable understory is another strong suggestion.
“Trees are not recommended within the first 10 metres around our homes and structures, but beyond that distance are actually recommended,” Traer said. “In this zone they should be spaced out so that there is at least three metres (10 feet) between crowns. They should also be pruned up to remove the ladder fuels at least two metres (seven feet). Cleanup of tree debris should be done on an annual basis. The concept here is you want to remove the ladder fuels where a ground fire could easily climb into the crowns of trees and spread to adjacent stems.”
It can be a lot of work to chop, rake, saw, prune, haul, redesign and maintain your property for fire risk reduction, and it might greatly change the landscaping vision you once had for your place, but the benefits are well documented.
“It has been determined that if you address the combustible materials within the 10 metres around your home or structure, that you will have a 90 per cent probability of that structure still standing in the event of a wildfire,” Traer said.
You can have your property assessed by a FireSmart representative like Traer, and there is ample online information to guide your own efforts. To find out more, said Traer, “Start first by checking out the FireSmart BC website. There are masses of information on this site including information on how to reduce the fuels around your home and its risk to ignition from wildfire.”
Go to firesmartbc.ca and go exploring the information. Traer can be contacted by email at mmfarmconsulting@gmail.com
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