How to protect your home before — and during — wildfire season

As wildfire season begins, British Columbians are being asked to do what they can to protect their own homes and properties in an effort to prevent the devastation of communities seen in years past.

Officials have been expecting a challenging summer in terms of wildfires, particularly after another record-setting season in 2023.

And while preparations have been underway at all levels of government for months, Kurtis Isfeld, director of fire centre operations for the B.C. Wildfire Service, says everyone concerned has a part to play in prevention and preparedness.

"Regardless of whether you're from the provincial government or regional government, an Indigenous community, the forest industry, ranchers, farmers, we all have a responsibility," he told CBC's Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk.

It's a sentiment echoed by firefighters in the Okanagan Valley, where the MacDougall Creek fire destroyed or damaged nearly 190 properties last summer.

The McDougall Creek Wildfire seen burning in West Kelowna on Aug. 18, 2023. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"It's time to look at your own properties and start changing behaviours and expectations," said Dennis Craig, assistant fire chief responsible for wildfire mitigation and prevention with the Kelowna Fire Department.

He said interest in how to prepare yards and homes for fire season has been growing.

"A lot of residents are really nervous," he said.

In 2023, fire information officer Mike McCulley told CBC that if property owners hadn't made any effort to "fire-smart" their homes, they might not be prioritized by firefighters.

"Maybe there's an old wooden roof, lots of firewood piled up around the house, trees that haven't been managed … that's probably not a property that we're going to look at as a quick, easy, defendable target compared to the next property where it might be well fire-smarted," McCulley said.

What can you do? 

If you're building a new home or structure of any kind, the federal government advises using non-combustible materials like metal or asphalt roofing. It also suggests enclosed gutters and eaves.

Any flammable materials such as gasoline or solvents should be moved at least 10 metres away from your home, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

B.C.'s FireSmart program says landscaping plays a big role in slowing wildfires.

Grass should be shorter than 10 centimetres and, when watering restrictions allow, it should be well hydrated to keep it from becoming dry fuel.

Highly flammable trees and hedges, such as cedar, juniper and spruce, should be at least 10 metres away from your home. Trees should be spaced out to slow the spread of fire, and be pruned so there's a two-metre clearance from the ground up to the lowest branch.

Flammable mulches like bark and needles should not be used against buildings.

Firewood and lumber should also be moved away from homes.

The same should be done around outbuildings on the property, like sheds, barns and garages.

Tags indicating which plants are fire-resistant are being used to educate people about how to fire-proof their yards. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC)

Certain plants are fire resistant, according to FireSmart, and garden centres can help you figure out which ones work best for the area you live in.

Garden sprinklers androof-watering systems can be used in addition to these other protection measures, in order to keep the home wet in the event a fire does come near.

Work on it now, work on it often

Craig said homeowners need to start this work now, advising them to pick the highest priority items and continue working on it through spring and summer.

Dead plant and organic matter should be removed often, not just at the beginning of the process, he added.

"FireSmart is not something you're going to complete in an afternoon or a weekend," Craig said.

BCIT forest and natural areas instructor Justin Perry said everyone needs to get on board with FireSmart if it's going to work.

"You can do all this fire-smarting around your property but it doesn't really mean much when your neighbour is growing a giant cedar hedge," he said.

And as Felix Wiesner, an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Forestry told CBC last summer, FireSmart guidelines are meant to help prevent catastrophic damage to homes, but sometimes, it's not enough.

"You can reduce the risk to a certain point, but you cannot completely eliminate it," he said.