FireSmart Kitimat held their Wildfire Community Preparedness Day barbecue Thursday evening, to promote awareness about fire safety in and around the home.
“In our manuals, we say a lot of things, like keeping firewood away from the side of your house,” Kaitlin Ferreira, one of the event organizers, said. “[There are] different types of plants and trees actually that are more flammable than others that you might not want around your house, because if a spark or ember caught on that, your house is less likely to survive the wildfire.”
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FireSmart does multiple, small barbecues throughout the season most summers, but decided to run one big one this year, so they could better enforce COVID-19 distancing restrictions. Ferreira said the event was successful and they had many visitors throughout the evening, eating hot-dogs and learning about fire safety.
“In the northwest fire zone, we’ve been pretty lucky. We had a fire up Bish Road from somebody who left their campfire unattended…they didn’t put it out right, so then…with a little bit of oxygen, it can just start the fire up again, just from a little bit of steam and smoke.”
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Ferreira said the amount of rain the Northwest has been getting has definitely been helpful in minimizing the number of wildfires this year compared to other years, but they still want to take any opportunity they can to make sure people are being safe and smart when it comes to fires in and around the home.
“Especially living in such a forested area, it’s really important that people understand the risk and the impact that a wildfire can really have, and in our area, specifically.”
For more information on how you can be fire-smart in and around your home, visit the FireSmart Kitimat Facebook page.
clare.rayment@northernsentinel.com
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