By Madeline Baker, Times Chronicle
The Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) and the Town of Oliver will once again be applying for a FireSmart grant offered under the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) program.
The FireSmart Community Funding and Supports Program is offered to First Nations and local governments to facilitate the creation of community-based FireSmart planning and activities in order to lessen the impact of wildfires on their communities.
This model has shown strong success in the past, according to the UBCM – they credit the adoption of FireSmart principles by residents of Fort McMurray for the survival of many individual homes in both rural and urban areas in 2016’s Horse River wildfire.
According to the BC Flood and Wildfire review, there is a critical need to “strengthen public understanding of the risks and personal responsibilities associated with living in a fire dependent ecosystem.”
After receiving the RDOS Community Wildfire Protection Plan in 2020, RDOS applied for and received $595,000 from two grants in the FireSmart funding stream to address the report’s recommendations, which included hiring a FireSmart coordinator. Other sources of funding allowed them to add two Wildfire Mitigation specialists in 2022 when the CRI grant was not offered.
This year they are requesting $50,000 per Electoral Area for FireSmart activities in each individual area and $200,000 for the overall regional district, for a total of $650,000, to continue meeting the 2020 wildfire protection report’s objectives and extend 2022’s improvements into the coming year.
The Town of Oliver is also submitting their application for a Fire Smart 2023 Grant with an ask of $141,734.29.
The grant would provide 100 per cent of the funding for hiring a part time FireSmart Coordinator for the purpose of building community awareness and community education at the cost of $45,000.
The funding would also be used to build a local FireSmart program, including events, activities, materials and support for the town at the cost of $20,664.29. Purchasing $44,070 of equipment for a structural protection unit and the development of a new Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan at the cost of $32,000.
Since Oliver is in what is considered a high risk zone, the town is eligible for up to $200,000 in base funding. But a Community Wildfire Resiliency Plan (CWRP) is required to be able to apply for some of the funded activities, therefore hiring the FireSmart Coordinator and developing the new CWRP are the initial steps.
Along with overall improvements to public education and cooperation between the various agencies that promote FireSmart principles to communities, the RDOS also plan to add home and neighbourhood FireSmart assessments to their current program, develop a local training program for FireSmart representatives, and provide off-site vegetation debris disposal and rebate initiatives for homeowners.
“We’ve done this for many years now,” said RDOS board of directors chair Mark Pendergraft about the UBCM FireSmart grant applications, “and I think it’s very worthwhile.”
With files by Sebastian Kanally.
