Kelowna already moving ahead with parts of new wildfire plan
Prioritie include a fire evacuation plan
Kelowna has a new wildfire plan but city councillors were told Monday the city is already moving ahead on a number of its recommendations such as a new FireSmart web page.
The 2022 community wildfire resiliency plan, effective for the next fire years, provides “an updated action plan for proactive protection of our community, infrastructure and natural landscape,” said urban forestry technician Tara Bergeson.
Among its 43 recommendations, the priority items for the next five years include: completion of a municipal evacuation plan; completion of FireSmart assessments of critical infrastructure; continued multi-agency wildland fire training within the Kelowna Fire Department; and completion of an assessment for fire-suppression requirements for all four community water suppliers in the city.
Coun. Gail Given, a Dilworth Mountain resident, had high praise for a chipping program that encourages property owners to collect and dispose of potential wildfire fuel, noting a lot of her neighbours took advantage of the opportunity.
“I think it is a really important way to extend the service to areas that are at risk and do it in an effective, efficient way to help people get rid of things that go up like Roman torches when fire season hits,” she said. “I think people were kind of surprised when the signs went up: ‘What? You’re really going to chip this? Yah, OK, I’ll get rid of things.’ I think it’s a great program.”
“We did almost 100 metric tonnes of hazardous material from homes in the two-and-a-half months the program ran and collected material from over 250 homes across the city,” responded Bergeson.
“Excellent. It was a bit of a pilot program but I think as you expand, residents will start to understand the value of it, and participate more and more,” said Given.