FireSmart BC launched a campaign yesterday with a well known Williams Lake man as their spokesperson.
Bryan Reid Sr of Timber Kings fame, lost a lot to wildfire back in 2017.
Now as an advocate for wildfire prevention he’s asking all BC residents and communities to prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.
Reid said it’s important to space your trees properly and to clean up the limbs down low, and if you’re planning to landscape, knowing what kind of trees they are could be a great benefit.
“Some trees burn different from other trees, like coniferous certainly, as we saw in Williams Lake, could go up in a matter of seconds where popular trees and leaf trees, deciduous, seem to be kind of a fire break, so maybe if you’re going to landscape it’s a good thing to use deciduous trees”.
Reid Sr. experienced first hand back in 2017 how devastating wildfires can be.
“We lost everything, the inventory, the houses that were being built, a crane, equipment, everything and it happened in a matter of hours of the fire starting, yeah we were in the middle of it”.
Reid added that with people staying home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to FireSmart your property so you’ll be ready when the wildfire season starts.
“There are over 100 Firesmart Recognized Communities in BC and hundreds of local FireSmart representatives who are doing their part to mitigate wildfire risks,” said Amanda Reynolds, a FireSmart Program Lead, BC Wildfire Service, FireSmart Canada Provincial Liaison, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. “We are encouraging all BC residents to visit FireSmart BC’s website, a central resource dedicated solely to wildfire prevention for property owners and communities in BC to learn about how they can prepare for wildfire season”.