Scroll to the bottom of the page to learn about a chance for Steelhead to win $500.

Applications accepted starting January 31 through to March 21!

FireSmart

Save the Date! National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day!

May 6, 2017

Visit www.firesmartcanada.ca for more information.


FireSmart National Wildfire May 2017 Poster

APPLY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN $500 FOR YOUR GROUP NEIGHBOURHOOD OR COMMUNITY!

TOGETHER WE ARE PREPARED

Commit a few of hours or the entire day and join others throughout the nation making communities a safer place to live. Challenge your neighbourhood, friends, family members, co-workers, community service group, youth organization, club or any other eligible group to create a project and accomplish something great together!

Efforts will raise community wildfire awareness, help protect homes and help neighbourhoods and entire communities work towards becoming FireSmart.

In collaboration and support from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR), and The Co-operators, FireSmart Canada is pleased to announce stipend recipients on May 6, 2017.

During Wildfire Community Preparedness Day on May 6, 2017 and through to September 30, 2017, communities across Canada are encouraged to participate in local mitigation projects to help reduce the risk of wildfire damage to their homes and neighbourhoods.

Is your community working towards to becoming nationally recognized through the FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program? Use this day as your FireSmart Day and enter to win $500 for use towards it!

Visit www.firesmartcanada.ca/firesmart-communities or email general@firesmartcanada.ca to find out more about the FireSmart Canada Community Recognition Program

HERE’S SOME PROJECT IDEAS TO GET YOU THINKING! COME UP WITH IDEAS THAT WILL WORK BEST FOR YOURCOMMUNITY!

· Host a FireSmart Community Champion Workshop for your neighbourhood; invite surrounding neighbourhoods

· Hold your neighbourhoods’ first FireSmart Board meeting or FireSmart Day

· Perform individual FireSmart Wildfire Hazard Assessments on each of the homes in your community

· Clear leaves, pine needles and combustible debris from the roofs and gutters of the neighbourhood homes

· Sweep porches and decks clearing them of leaves, pine needles and combustible debris

· Rake under decks, porches, sheds and play structures and dispose of debris

· Prune low-hanging tree branches up to a height of 2 metres

· Collect downed tree limbs and broken branches and take them to a disposal site

· Remove combustible items stored under decks and porches

· Ensure all the address numbers of all neighbourhood homes are visible form the street

· Screen or box-in areas below patios and decks with wire screening no larger than 3mm mesh

· Help an elderly neighbor do FireSmart work to their home

· Build or updating 72-hour kits for each family in the neighbourhood

· Develop a phone/text tree that can be used for fire evacuation alerts

· Identify and remove high flammability plants from within 10 metres of neighbourhood homes

· Distribute FireSmart information to neighbours

· Join forces with neighbours and pool your resources to pay for a chipper service to remove slash

· Work with local emergency management authorities to develop and practice a neighbourhood evacuation plan

· Invite a horticulturist to review the FireSmart Guide to Landscaping with you and your neighbours and suggest which types of FireSmart plants might work best in your neighbourhood

WHEN TO APPLY

You can start submitting project funding applications beginning Monday, January 31, 2017 through to Friday, March 21, 2017 11:59pm MT. A panel will review applications and select up to 20 project award recipients.

Additional funding is available in partnership with FireSmart Canada:

The Union of British Columbia Municipalities is offering FireSmart grants of up to $10,000 each to local governments for support of FireSmart Community initiatives such as this. Contact your local government (Municipality, Regional District or First Nationals Band Council) and encourage them to apply. Find more information here by the deadline of January 27, 2017.

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