Just one small ember from a wildfire can set a house ablaze. That ember, pushed along by wind, can travel farther than you may realize.
With the fire risk on the southern part of Vancouver Island at “extreme,” neighbourhood associations have banded together with local municipalities to encourage homeowners to understand the risk – and what they can do to better the odds that their house will not be impacted.
“The fire can be quite a distance away, because it’s the embers of the fire that are blowing in the wind from the fire,” explained David Tonken.
Tonken is on a fire prevention committee involving three residents' associations in North Saanich.
“We wanted to do things the homeowner could take the initiative on,” he said.
The group has been distributing information on being “Fire Smart."
It shows homeowners how they can reduce the chance their house will go up in flames, should an ember blow their way.
Tonken said most of it is pretty basic stuff.
“Make sure you clean out your gutters and don’t have trees that are kind of hanging over your roof,” he said.
Something that simple could be the deciding factor as to whether your house catches fire, according to Jessica Duncan, a Wildfire Prevention Officer with the Coastal Fire Centre.
“The key being closest to their house, what we call priority zone one, or the home ignition zone,” she said.
That zone is within 10 metres of a home.
Things like firewood, wood chips, and propane tanks should be removed from that area.
With branches touching the building and a propane tank, this North Saanich home would be considered at high risk of fires. July 19, 2018. (CTV Vancouver Island)
Duncan said reviews of the Fort McMurray wildfire showed about 95 per cent of the homes were lost due “to a little ember landing in something like some woody mulch or a cedar tree close to the home and that’s what actually ignited the house.”
She said the highest fire risk on Vancouver Island is in the southeast part, which is also the most densely populated.
“We’re facing definitely a serious and sustained increase in fire behavior and events that occur in the wild and urban interface and we need to start realizing the implications of this and being as proactive as we can to help protect ourselves,”
Tonken said people do seem to be getting the message.
“There’s been a real positive uptake on the issue because most people know the fire hazards around. It’s extreme."
