FireSmart Committee Newsletter

January 31st, 2023

What is FireSmart?

“FireSmart is living with and managing for fire on our landscape and around our communities. Climate change, urban expansion and a host of other factors have made it likely that we will see more fire seasons like the summers of 2017 and 2018 in the future. FireSmart is our shared responsibility at all levels from provincial to local government and individual citizens, to build wildfire resilient communities that protect life and property from the eventuality of wildfire.

FireSmart emphasizes the utilization of FireSmart Disciplines to lessen the effects of wildfire— education, vegetation management, legislation and planning, cross-training, interagency planning, development considerations and emergency planning. These principles have shown that they can be effective at reducing negative impacts from wildfire events even under extreme wildfire conditions. Economically, FireSmart applied at the residential scale has shown to be one of the most cost-effective ways to mitigate the loss of homes and is something that every homeowner can undertake. The BC FireSmart Committee encourages citizens, in partnership with all levels of government, to prepare their homes, neighbourhoods, communities, businesses and the province for wildfire. Together, we can build a FireSmart B.C.