FireSmart Protect Your Home From Wildfire

1. FireSmartProtect Your Home From Wildfire

2. Welcome • Introduction • What? • Why? • How?

3. Facts About Fire Did you know that… • Fire is natures way of renewing the forest ecosystem and is necessary for the health of our forests. • Unfortunately, living in forested areas can be at odds with the natural fire regime. • Our attempt at preventing forest fires has actually created a higher risk of fire.

4. Facts About Fire Did you know that… • Crowning forest fires often spread up to 5.5 km/hr, with spotting as far as 2 km ahead. • Wind blown grass fires can spread up to 8.5 km/hr. • This creates extreme dangers to anyone living in a forested area.

5. Rural Reality • If you live near a forested region, sooner or later you will have to contend with the spread of a wildfire. • The best protection against loss, damage or injury due to wildfire is prevention. • A properly built home withstands fire with no intervention.

6. Wildfire Video

7. What is FireSmart? FireSmart is a program that helps you identify potential fire hazards and prepare your home and your community to protect or reduce damage to your property when a wildfire strikes.

8. How FireSmart Is Your Home? • Do your own Home and Site Hazard Assessment

9. Get Ready… • Some preventative measures cost very little and greatly reduce fire dangers. • Others require planning and a long-term commitment to change. • There are 3 areas where you can apply FireSmart standards to protect or reduce damage to your property should a wildfire strike.

10. Site Preparation

11. Interface Priority Zones

12. Where to start…Zone 1 • Remove any shrubs, trees, deadfall or woodpiles from this area and keep the grass mowed and watered • Studies show that up to 85% of all homes with only this improvement (and a asphalt shingle roof) will be enough to save a home with no intervention.

13. Zone 2 What to do: • Remove trees and debris that can spread fire upwards to become a fast spreading crown fire. • Remove or reduce the number of ever green trees in the area • Remove deadfall, thick shrubbery and mature trees

14. Zone 3 What to do: • Thin or reduce shrubs and trees that make up the under story, retain fire resistant deciduous trees, space trees to reduce the potential for a crowning fire, producing a more Park like setting.

15. Building Construction

16. Building Materials and Design Standards FireSmart guidelines deal with building materials and design standards for: • Roofing materials • Exterior walls • Firebrand ignitions – such as eves, vents, decks, porches, trim, etc.; and • Doors and windows

17. Is your roof FireSmart? • Asphalt shingle, clay tile, metal or non combustible materials (0 points) • Unrated wooden shakes (30 points)

18. Are your exterior walls FireSmart? Non-combustible siding such as: • stucco, • metal siding, • brick, • cement shingles, concrete block and rock offer superior fire resistance (0 points)

19. Is your home vulnerable to Firebrand Ignitions?

20. Are your doors and window FireSmart? • Tempered glass (0 pts) • Double pane (1 or 2 pts) • Single pane (2 to 4 pts)

21. Don’t be the cause of a wildfire • FireSmart your chimney • Locate burn barrels away from building and combustible items • Keep vegetation clear from power lines and propane tanks • Ensure adequate emergency vehicle access • Keep rakes and shovels handy.

22. Action Plan… • Assess your home and site hazards • Identify significant hazards • Do the necessary cleanup and changes to keep your family, home and community safe

23. Summary • You and your neighbours can reduce the hazards of Wildfire with a few preventative steps. • The FireSmart manual helps identify potential hazards • Homeowners should focus on site preparation and building construction

24. Communications and Public Education • Effective public education is the key to preventing or minimizing fire risk in the wildland/urban interface

25. Principles of effective communications • Clear objectives • Don’t make assumptions • Involve all parties • Identify and address particular interests of different groups • Identify with your audience • Coordinate with other organizations or groups

26. Principles of Effective Communications • Choose your spokesperson carefully • Practice and test your message • Do not either minimize or exaggerate the level of risk • Promise only what you can do. Do what you promise • Plan carefully and evaluate your efforts

27. Developing a Communications Plan • A communications plan will help you get started and keep you on track • With a plan your communications are likely to be strategic and proactive • Without a plan your communications may be scattered, ineffective and reactive • A simple plan executed well is more effective than a complex plan that gathers dust

28. Elements of a Communications Plan • Target Audience • Purpose statement • Desired Outcomes • Current attitudes • Strategy • Strategic considerations • Messages • Spokesperson • Timing • Tools • Cost • Evaluation

29. The Target Audience • Who are you trying to reach? • Involve local Fire Dept. • Target elected officials, industry, local government officials, land use planners and homeowners. • One way to reach home owners is through school programs

30. Effective MessagesAll Audiences • Messages should be simple and expressed in terms that are easily understood

31. Effective Media Relations • Be open with and accessible to reporters • Provide information tailored to the needs of each type of media • Provide background material on complex issues • Do not hesitate to follow up on stories with praise or constructive criticism • Try to establish long-term relations of trust with specific editors and reporters

32. FireSmart Communications Plan - Example

33. Target Audience • Homeowners and elected officials in the wildland/urban interface area

34. Purpose • Increase awareness of the risk of interface fire in the community • Give stakeholders the information they need to make informed decisions about preventing and minimizing risk from fire • Reduce the number of fires and damage that results from fire

35. Desired results • Everyone will know that wildfire is an issue that needs to be addressed. • Everyone will understand that the problem belongs to the community and that each has a responsibility for wildfire issues • Officials will approve resources needed to implement FireSmart awareness plan

36. Desired Results • Individual landowners and residents will be motivated to take preventive action!

37. Homeowners • Appoint a spokesperson to deliver messages • Inform homeowners about the issue and what their responsibilities are before and during a wildfire • Home owners need to know what wildfire prevention measures they can take to protect their home, family and community from wildfire

38. HomeownersMessages • Wildfire is a hazard in our community • A wildfire incident will affect everyone in the community and every individual must share responsibility for the solution • During busy times their may not be enough firefighting resources to protect all buildings • Prevention measures can save your family, home, business or community

39. Elected OfficialsConcerns • The amount of money and resources available • Whether members of council or board agree on the importance of reducing interface fire risk • Whether there is pressure from the public to do something about the issue

40. Elected OfficialsMessages • If some thing is done about prevention our community will be better prepared to recover from an interface fire. • Prevention measures will reduce fire-related emergency response costs. • Residents will appreciate that our community is being proactive • It is irresponsible to do nothing to lessen effects of wildfire

41. Spokespersons • Fire Chief • Fire personnel or a fire prevention officer • Director of Disaster services

42. Timing • Fire season, April 1 to October 3 • Homeowners – during spring clean-up and planting season - Just before the start of high risk fire season. • Elected officials – before the next years budget is decided and well in advance of the fire season

43. ToolsOne on One contact • Highly effective public education method to gain the respect of residents in the wildland interface. • If residents respect the knowledge of fire personnel and feel comfortable with their personality, they are more likely to listen and be more likely to implement their suggestions.

44. Tools - Media • Submit articles to media sources. • Use facts as a starting point but develop a local angle. • If their has been a recent wildfire incident or mitigation activities use these to help launch your awareness

45. ToolsWildfire Hazard Assessment forms • The most effective means of introducing hazard assessment is through fire personnel • Hazard assessment form and instruction is also available in the FireSmart manual and web site

46. ToolsDisplays • Set up displays at community events like trade shows, fair grounds, schools etc. • To draw people to your display consider using videos, firefighting equipment, posters and maps

47. Tools - Cost • Choose the communications tools that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. • Cost sharing with neighbouring communities or corporate sponsors

48. Evaluation • Record the number of requests or inquiries regarding FireSmart • If fire personnel conduct hazard assessments or conduct door to door campaigns they will keep a record • Get feed back from target audience • Track increase in FireSmart homes and landscapes

50. For more information Contact • Local fire department <address> <phone number> Office of the Fire Commissioner Toll Free 1-888-988-9488