Lac Ste. Anne County Activity Report 2019 Spring Activity Report | Page 19

SPRING 2019 ActivityLSAC
County
Fire
Services
NEW FireSmart initiative
focuses on safeguarding
agricultural community.
STRENGTHENING THE COUNTY’S
FIRESMART PROGRAM
Since its inception in 1999, FireSmart
has worked with regions like Lac Ste.
Anne County to address common
concerns regarding wildfire in what’s
known as the wildland/urban interface
(areas where wildlands and human
development meet). While this group has
been successful in promoting FireSmart
activities across rural communities,
County Fire Chief Randy Schroeder
has begun an initiative to address what
he sees as a gap in the program. To
fill this gap, he is collaborating with
Whitecourt Fire Chief and FireSmart
Vice President Brian Wynn, and Forest
Resource Improvement Association of
Alberta (FRIAA) FireSmart to produce an
educational toolkit that targets regional
agricultural communities.
“FireSmart embraces seven core
principles: cross training; development
considerations; education; emergency
preparedness; interagency cooperation;
legislation and planning; and vegetation
management,” remarks Schroeder.
“There are precious few resources to
help agricultural producers understand
and engage these principles. We aim to
move the needle on that statistic.”
SIMPLE STEPS TO
SAFEGUARD PRODUCERS
Having witnessed numerous instances
over the years of grain dryer and
storage silo fires, runaway burn piles,
and other costly yet easily avoidable
agricultural fire events, Schroeder feels
that the more focus that’s given to white
zone communities (farms, houses and
other structures outside of the Forest
Protection Area), the better equipped
ag producers in these communities will
be to safeguard life, limb and property.
“We’re targeting our initial education
assets on common-sense protocols
and workflows landowners can follow
in order to protect themselves,”
continues Schroeder. “Things like
having a tourniquet kit in the cab of farm
vehicles, making sure fire extinguishers
aren’t expired, or properly situating and
managing burn barrels. These are all
seemingly simple strategies, but they
can make a world of difference to the
outcome of a serious event.”
The group’s FRIAA-funded plan is aimed
at reducing fire risks on farmland by way
of educational videos, print collateral
and related resources. These materials
will be housed on a dedicated website
called FarmFireSmart.ca, and all assets
will be shared with FireSmart Canada
and municipal firefighting organizations.
In addition, Fire Services has tentatively
planned two open houses this fall
covering the east and west ends of the
County to showcase these educational
assets and further promote awareness
among agricultural producers.
In production this spring, the video
series will break new ground for rural
communities as they look for ways
to keep residents and property safe.
“Because we’re the first white zone
community to undertake an initiative like
this, communities and fire services are
eagerly anticipating the launch of our
program,” claims Schroeder.
The County received a FRIAA project
grant of $35,285 to begin a multi-phase
approach to regional wildfire risks. Fire
Services was also granted an additional
$20,000 in FRIAA funding in November
2018, which is earmarked for the media
production and fall awareness activities.
Fire Services plans to move forward with
further expressions of interest with the
FRIAA program to execute latter phases
of its White Zone FireSmart programming,
which will target wildfire fuel hazard
reduction in line with the completed
FireSmart Threat Assessment.
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