Alberta's FireSmart Program 2017 - Gavin Hojka Wildfire Management Branch Alberta Agriculture and Forestry - Alberta Emergency ...

Alberta’s FireSmart Program
             2017

            Gavin Hojka
   Wildfire Management Branch
  Alberta Agriculture and Forestry

Contents
•   Wildfires in Alberta
•   Introduction to FireSmart in Alberta
•   The Scales of FireSmart
•   Introduction to the Seven Disciplines of FireSmart
    –   Emergency Planning
    –   Cross Training
    –   Education
    –   Legislation
    –   Inter-agency Cooperation
    –   Development
    –   Vegetation Management
• Funding Programs
• FireSmart Canada – Partners in Protection Association
• Contacts

Wildfires – Current Trends
• The last decade has been one of the warmest on
  record throughout North America.
• We are building more homes in and adjacent to
  wildlands.
• We have more mature forests on the landscape.
• The impacts of mountain pine beetle and other
  insects and disease—increase susceptibility of forests
  to wildfire.
• Increased population—more people in the wildlands
  for recreation and work

Wildfires – Current Trends
• Wildfire management agencies throughout North
  America are continually challenged by the complexity
  and number of wildfires on the landscape.
   –   Increased suppression costs
   –   Fire loads exceeding suppression capability
   –   More intense fires
   –   More severe fires
   –   Increased threats to values-at-risk (life, communities,
       watersheds/sensitive soils, infrastructure)
• Equals the need for mitigation and preparedness at
  all levels.

Recent Wildfire Events
• 1998 – Virginia Hills Fire and numerous other large fires
• 2001 – Chisholm Fire in Alberta.
• 2002 – House River Fire in Alberta.
• 2003 – Kelowna Fire in BC and Lost Creek Fire in Alberta.
• 2008 – Newbrook Fire (Outside of Edmonton)
• 2009 – Strathcona County Wildfire
• 2010 – Opal Fire (Near Thorhild)
• 2011 – Flat Top (Slave Lake) Fires and a number of others
  threatening communities
• 2013 – Wildfire Evacuations of Lodgepole and Nordegg
• 2015 – High Level Area Wildfires
• 2016 – Horse River (Fort McMurray) Wildfire

The Changing Landscape

Administrative Boundaries
• Alberta is split into the Forest
  Protection Area (FPA) and
  Non-FPA. The Wildfire
  Management Branch (WMB)
  is responsible for wildfires in
  the FPA. Local municipalities
  are the lead outside of the
  FPA.
• Some FireSmart funding
  programs are restricted to the
  FPA and others are province
  wide (discussed later).
• In emergency situations, the
  WMB assists with wildfires
  outside of the FPA.

Introduction to FireSmart
“FireSmart helps protect homes and communities from the threat of
wildfire while balancing the benefits of wildfire on the landscape.”

• Wildfire poses a threat to communities in Alberta, especially those
  communities which are located within the Forest Protection Area
  (FPA);
• Wildland Urban Interface/Intermix (WUI) is where structures meet
  and mingle with forest fuels, and where the greatest risk occurs;
• FireSmart initiatives and projects are performed on three different
  scales: Landscape, Community and WUI;
• Communities are encouraged by Agriculture and Forestry to adopt
  and promote their own FireSmart programs built on strong
  partnerships;
• There are many ways to increase a communities resilience to
  wildfire outside of removing dangerous vegetation.

The Scales of FireSmart
The practice of FireSmart can be carried out on many different scales.
Generally, projects and initiatives fall into one of three scales:

Landscape FireSmart (generally occurs outside of a municipalities
jurisdiction)
• Generally revolves around large scale removal of hazardous fuels
• These projects require extensive planning, consultation, education
    and strong partnerships
• Industry partnerships and fire management planning
Community FireSmart (occurs within a municipalities jurisdiction, 10
km radius around town)
• All seven disciplines of FireSmart are viable and important at this
    scale
• Vegetation management is only one piece of a successful FireSmart
    program. Community level FireSmart must consider all of the seven
    FireSmart Disciplines.

The Scales of FireSmart
The practice of FireSmart can be carried out on many different scales.
Generally, projects and initiatives fall into one of three scales:

WUI FireSmart (occurs on private property and within town)
• Vegetation management in the form of pruning, removal of dead
  and down and mowing
• Education around structural considerations such as roofing and
  siding material
• Education around maintenance of eaves and cleanliness of roofs
• Homeowners should be encouraged to complete work to make
  their properties more resilient.

The Scales of FireSmart

Alberta FireSmart Planning
• Hazard and risk based approach
  – level of planning necessary is
  determined by this assessment.
  Focus is the WUI and
  Community Zones.
• Wildfire Preparedness Guide –
  Operational plan which assists
  emergency personnel to protect
  values during a wildfire.
• Wildfire Mitigation Strategy –
  Developed for communities with
  a significant hazard and risk.
  Addresses the seven disciplines
  of FireSmart.

Introduction to the Seven Disciplines
of FireSmart
In general, all FireSmart initiatives and projects will fall into one of the seven
FireSmart Disciplines:
• Vegetation Management – removal, reduction and conversion of hazardous
    fuels
• Education – raising awareness of risks and opportunities for prevention and
    mitigation
• Emergency Planning – ensures human life is preserved as priority on in
    wildfire emergencies
• Cross Training – required for seamless teamwork during a wildfire
    emergency
• Legislation – allows for requirement of mechanisms which promote wildfire
    resiliency
• Inter-agency Cooperation – necessary for managing all stages of a wildfire
    emergency
• Development – considerations for promoting the survival of homes and
    infrastructure

Emergency Planning
FireSmart Emergency Planning generally takes the form a Wildfire Preparedness Guide (WPG).
Agriculture and Forestry encourages communities within the FPA to have at minimum a WPG in case of
a wildfire emergency
• This document is used by Emergency Responders when a wildfire threatens a community
• The WPG supports a unified command structure, recognizing that responsibilities during wildfire
     emergency are shared by different agencies
• It is essential that all stakeholders are engaged during the creation of a communities WPG, as
     wildfire emergencies require response from multiple agencies
• The WPG should compliment any existing emergency planning, standard operating procedures and
     policies
• This document should be reviewed and updated annually prior to fire season. All agencies
     identified in the plan should have a copy readily available.

General Plan Contents
• Planning area description (fuels, fire behavior potentials, existing containment lines, etc.)
• Values at Risk identification (critical infrastructure, dangerous good, etc.)
• Fire Operations (roles, communication details, structure protection strategies, water supply etc.)
• Auto order lists
• Contact lists
• Operations Maps

Additionally – Municipal Emergency Plans are critical. Both the Municipal Government Act and the
Emergency Management Act require municipalities to develop and maintain safe and viable
communities that can direct and control emergency response.

Cross Training
Cross training refers to agencies working together to garner a shared understanding of
responsibilities, strengths and limitations and work on communications.

Examples of Cross training:

•   Table top exercises
•   Real world exercises such as mock disasters
•   Incident Command training, Wildland Urban Interface training
•   Site visits and tours, equipment demonstrations

Examples of Agencies who should be involved:

•   Wildfire Management
•   Local Fire Department
•   Municipal Emergency Services
•   RCMP
•   Local Industry (utility, oil and gas, etc.)
•   Area specific stakeholders who may become involved in wildfire response

Education
Education is the cornerstone of a successful FireSmart program. Without proper
education around the risks associated with wildfire and ways to mitigate this risk,
FireSmart will fail to achieve the support it needs to be effective.

Education must be tailored to the audience. Examples of possible audiences include:
• Elected officials and municipal staff
• Community members
• Homeowners
• School age children
• Specific local interest groups (OHV operators, farmers, etc.)
• Industry

There are many FireSmart education resources available to municipal government,
homeowners and other groups. Contact your local Forestry office for details.

Legislation
FireSmart specific legislation is necessary to implement items and mechanisms that
are critical to the prevention of wildfire or the loss of structures due to wildfire.

There are a few different avenues for approaching FireSmart from this direction:

•   Municipal Bylaw – setting or amending bylaws to reflect FireSmart principles;

•   Architectural Guidelines – already used to control appearance of homes in some
    developments. Can be used to limit flammable exteriors, firewood storage and the
    types of vegetation used by homeowners;

•   Subdivision, Engineering and Development Standards – building guidelines with
    can be integrated into new developments or upgrades to existing developments;

•   Building Code and Fire Code Regulations – minimum construction standards,
    training and equipment standards.

Interagency Cooperation
Strong partnerships are essential to successful FireSmart. Communities should
consider creating a FireSmart Committee with representation from stakeholders to
coordinate FireSmart initiatives.

FireSmart Committees can coordinate:
• Review and updating of planning documents
• Mock disasters and emergency exercises
• Regular updates to community and stakeholders regarding current FireSmart
    projects and initiatives
• Educations campaigns

FireSmart committees provide an opportunity for stakeholders to come together to
drive a communities FireSmart program in a coordinated fashion.

Strong partnerships and input from stakeholders is essential for the successful
implementation of a communities FireSmart program.

Development
In general, development can be broken down into two categories: structural and
infrastructure opportunities.

Homeowners have a great deal of control over structural FireSmart while the municipality
will generally drive the implementation of infrastructure FireSmart initiatives.

Examples of Structural FireSmart:
• Roofing: rated shingles, asphalt, metal, etc.
• Siding: stucco, brick, concrete, etc.
• Decks and porches: treated non flammable materials
• Eaves and vents: screened with fine mesh
• Yard design: use of non flammable vegetation, vegetation placement
• Yard maintenance: regular mowing, pruning, removal of dead vegetation

Examples of Infrastructure FireSmart:
• Home and subdivision access (for emergency vehicles)
• Multiple routes of egress (for evacuation)
• Access to water supply
• Open spaces such as parking lots and golf courses (for defense or refuge)

Vegetation Management
Vegetation management refers to the removal, reduction and conversion of hazardous
fuels around a community, in a subdivision or on private property.

Higher hazard fuels are targeted, generally conifer trees like spruce.

The scale of vegetation management can vary greatly:
• Homeowner – pruning trees and removal of hazardous vegetation on private
   property
• Community – pruning trees, thinning conifers in municipal reserve and parkland
   areas
• Landscape – occurs outside of community jurisdiction and will likely cover many
   hectares, removing hazardous fuels to create firebreak and defensible space.

Vegetation management is the most costly of all FireSmart disciplines, and the most
visible. Extensive planning and consultation should be carried out prior to beginning
these projects on a community and landscape scale.

Vegetation Management
• Consists of fuel removal, fuel reduction
  and/or species conversion.
• Fuel removal – removal of all flammable
  species to create fire barriers and
  containment lines
• Fuel reduction – reduce flammable species to
  reduce fire behaviour.
• Species conversion – removal of flammable
  species and replacing them with less
  flammable species.

FireSmart Funding Programs
• At the present time, there are three main programs that
  fund FireSmart activities in the Province.
   – The Forest Resource Improvement of Association of Alberta
     (FRIAA) FireSmart Program. This program in partnership with
     Alberta Agriculture and Forestry provides province-wide funding
     for the seven disciplines of FireSmart.
   – The Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) Wildfire
     Prevention Services Agreement. This program in partnership
     with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry provides funding for the
     seven disciplines of FireSmart and general wildfire prevention
     activities on Indigenous Peoples Reserves located in the Forest
     Protection Area. Contact your local Forest Area Office for
     details.
   – FireSmart Canada – Provides funding for Wildfire Community
     Preparedness Days throughout the province.

FireSmart Canada
• FireSmart Canada is multidisciplinary non-profit association,
  made up of members representing national, provincial and
  municipal associations, government departments responsible
  for emergency services, forest and parks management, land
  use planning and private business and industry.
• The mandate of FireSmart Canada is to facilitate interagency
  cooperation in the promotion of awareness and education
  aimed at reducing risk of loss of life and property from fire in
  the wildland/urban interface.
• FireSmart Canada offers a number of programs aimed at
  reducing community and homeowner wildfire risk. These
  programs include a community recognition program, local
  FireSmart representative workshops, community champion
  workshops and wildfire community preparedness days.

FireSmart Canada
• Information regarding the specific FireSmart Canada programs
  may be found on their website: www.firesmartcanada.ca
• The Wildfire Community Preparedness Day – provides funding
  for community wildfire prevention events across Canada.
  Information is on the FireSmart Canada website.
• Any questions regarding FireSmart Canada can be directed to
  the President, Laura Stewart at 780-644-8780 / 587-985-2095
  or laura.a.stewart@gov.ab.ca

Contacts
Regarding the FRIAA FireSmart Program, FRIAA can be contacted at:
780-429-5873 or admin@friaa.ab.ca or, Colin Paranich at
colin.paranich@friaa.ab.ca

Alberta Forest Area Wildfire Prevention Officers Contacts:
• Calgary Forest Area: Kevin Topolnicki at 403-297-3132 or
   Kevin.Topolnicki@gov.ab.ca
• Edson Forest Area: Marc Freedman 780-723-8373 or
   Marc.Freedman@gov.ab.ca
• Fort McMurray Forest Area: Paul St. John at 780-743-7209 or
   Paul.StJohn@gov.ab.ca
• Grande Prairie Forest Area: Mike Kingsbury at 780-538-6210 or
   Mike.Kingsbury@gov.ab.ca
• High Level Forest Area: Michelle Shesterniak at 780-926-5432 or
   Michelle.Shesterniak@gov.ab.ca
• Lac La Biche Forest Area: Mike Tucker at 780-623-5314 or
   Mike.Tucker@gov.ab.ca

Contacts
• Peace River Forest Area: Todd Lynch at 780-624-6334 or
  Todd.Lynch@gov.ab.ca
• Rocky Mountain House Forest Area: Kristofer Heemeryck at
  403-845-8205 or Kristofer.Heemeryck@gov.ab.ca
• Slave Lake Forest Area: Jason Pankratow at 780-849-7455 or
  Jason.Pankratow@gov.ab.ca
• Whitecourt Forest Area: Mike Milner at 780-778-7106 or
  Mike.Milner@gov.ab.ca