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County offering free home protection assessments

Fire_flood_assessment
A free Rocky View County flood and fire home protection assessment program will inspect homes for potential risks. File Photo/Rocky View Publishing

Rocky View County's (RVC) free fire and flood home protection assessments will contribute to the municipality's "work to build resiliency into our communities, and actively manage potential threats," according to a statement from Reeve Greg Boehlke.

The assessments, performed by AET Group and RVC Fire Services, are funded by a $1.4-million Canadian Red Cross Society grant. Following the assessment, homeowners can apply for Red Cross grant funding of up to $9,000 to make suggested improvements.

Randy Smith, RVC's manager of Fire Services and director of Emergency Management, said flood assessors will conduct a 60 to 90 minute inspection of the home.

"It's quite an in-depth look at your home, and they identify key aspects that you can do to prevent flooding through the years," he said.

The fire protection assessment will be conducted by RVC Fire Services, through a FireSmart perspective, according to Smith. He added this inspection will take about 30 to 45 minutes.

"The fire department comes in and identifies some tasks that you might need to do around your home," he said. "There is grant money available to assist in getting these tasks done, whether it be taking a tree down, having a contractor come in and clean gutters or what have you, so those that participate in these assessments can then go online, apply and actually get some assistance in achieving a FireSmart or flood safe home."

He added receiving a good rating in the FireSmart assessment could result in lower fire insurance costs.

"I think this is a huge step forward in trying to make homes fire safe, especially in the rural areas," he said, adding homeowners who participated in pervious FireSmart inspections are encouraged to participate again this year.

The fire assessment will divide the home into zones, which will then be further reviewed, Smith said. Within the first 10 metres of the home, assessors will look at things like leaf build-up under a deck, firewood stacked against the home, trees in close proximity to the house and other areas that could contribute to home damage in the case of a wildfire or grass fire.

The assessment will provide home owners with tips and tricks to prevent an uncontrollable situation. Although the list can be extensive, according to Smith, it's all about being proactive.

"Every little thing helps, whether it's flood-proofing your home or fire-proofing your home.... A lot of [the recommended improvements] are just clean up around the yard, cleaning the leaves up against the house, and they are simple to do," he said.

Valued at $475, up to 150 flood home protection assessments will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. The fire assessments will be unlimited. Applications for the free assessments can be found at rockyview.ca/protect

Residents are also encouraged to sign up for the Safe & Sound notification system to receive emergency alerts and County news by vising rockyview.ca/safe

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