Rocky View County, the Alberta government and residents are being asked to take steps to prevent fires in the Bragg Creek area.
Organizers of the Greater Bragg Creek Fire Smart project presented a list of 25 recommendations as part of a strategy to reduce the risk of wildfires in the area, Nov. 3 at the Snowbirds Chalet. The recommendations include training for firefighters, changes to development rules and steps residents should be taking around their homes to minimize the risk of fire.
With a high risk of wildfire in the greater Bragg Creek area, Clint Docken, acting committee chairperson, said it is in people’s best interests to follow the fire smart recommendations.
“You may save your home,” he said.
The final Fire Smart report is nearing completion and will be presented to County council for approval or rejection after a public hearing.
Recommendations are not only directed at residents, but also Rocky View County, the department of Sustainable Resource Development, and Spray Lake Sawmills. They include having a reliable water supply to fight fires in Bragg Creek, requiring County fire personnel be trained for wildfires and reviewing all development applications for adherence to fire smart principles. County Fire Chief Ken McMullen said the County can draw up fire protection plans for the community as a whole, but individual residents still need to play a part.
“What we’re trying to make people aware of is we can do a great deal together but we require a commitment from the public who lives here as well to take their own risk and liability seriously,” he said.
Landowners are urged to remove trees and bushes up to 10 metres from their homes, cut branches on trees within two metres of the ground and there are no combustible materials, such as log piles, beside structures.
County Councillor Rick Butler said Rocky View has no plans at this time to make it mandatory for people to implement fire smart recommendations on their property.
Council will review the recommendations, he added.
“We’re not going to implement everything overnight, but we’ll prioritize it, administration is working with it and hopefully we’ll have a game plan to get some of these things done,” said Butler.
He said there will be costs to the County, but they don’t have to be large.
“There definitely is a cost, but what I like to think is there’s a lot of re-allocation,” he said. “We already have training budgets so we can prioritize within existing budgets.”
One part of the strategy involves creating firebreaks in Kananaskis and forest management areas southwest of Bragg Creek.
Rick Arthur, Sustainable Resources Development wildfire prevention officer, said the intention is to create gaps in vegetation and other combustible materials to give crews fighting fires an opportunity to fight them in a strategic fashion.
“We’re hoping in the end that this strategy, tied in with the other recommendations, will help reduce the risk of wildfire to this community,” he said.
He said the Province is working with Spray Lake Sawmills to adjust its plans to log areas that will provide the most protection for Bragg Creek. There are no plans to increase the area that would be harvested.
“What we’re trying to do is get Spray Lakes to shift their harvest planning,” he said. “Since they’re going to be harvesting anyway, let’s get them to harvest in these areas for our containment lines so they don’t double the disturbance on the landscape.”
Some residents are already implementing the recommendations on their property.
West Bragg Creek resident Heather Gariepy’s family is in the process of fire-smarting its property. Family members have removed trees within 10 metres of their house and cut off the lower hanging branches on trees. They also cut long grass and removed bushes near the house.
“We think it’s better because it’s more landscaped,” said Gariepy. “It’s not quite as natural, but it looks like a park.”
She said the work now is maintenance, removing dead trees and clearing brush.
Gariepy is now concerned her neighbour hasn’t fire smarted its property. That neighbour would be Rocky View County, which owns reserve lands on three sides of the family’s property.
“We want to see the County continue it on the reserve lands behind our house,” she said.
