Click Here For Info And Photos On The 2008 Wildland Fires

Every year many families lose their homes and possessions to the ravages of wildfire (forest, brush and grass fires). It takes a lot less effort to prevent Interface Fires (Wildland/Urban Interface) fires than it does to put them out.

Protect Your Home and Property from Wildfire:

1. Gasoline and other flammable liquids stored in approved containers and away from occupied buildings.
2. Propane tanks away from buildings.
3. Roofs and gutters cleaned regularly.
4. Spark arresters on chimneys and stove pipes.
5. No tree limbs within 3 m of the flue or chimney.
6. Tree limbs removed to a height of 3 to 4.5 m.
7. Easy access to fire tools: shovel, rake, bucket and ladder long enough to reach the roof.
8. Roads and driveways at least 5 m in width.
9. Civic number posted at driveway entrance.
10. Leaves and flammable debris removed from around building.
11. House has at least two entrance/exit routes.
12. Shrubs spaced at least 4.5 m apart.
13. Garden hose connected to exterior tap.
14. Fireplace and stove ashes disposed of in fire safe container.
15. Combustibles such as firewood, picnic tables and boats stored away from the house.

Is Your Home Fire Smart? (Tips From Department of Natural Resources)

Click Here To Go To Tips On DNR's Website

Click Here To Print DNR's Pamphlet    (845kb)

Safety Tips to help protect your home and property if surrounded by trees and/or brush:

• The thinning of trees and brush will give you the space you need. Low hanging branches and ground vegetation are fuel in a forest fire. Thinning will slow the fire spread.

• Thin trees to leave three metres (10 feet) of separation. Remove all the dead, highly flammable trees first.

• On low sloped ground, double that distance and steep slopes double that distance again. Fire spreads faster uphill than on one level.

• Remove the undergrowth within the thinned area.

• Prune trees 2.5 metres (8 feet) from the ground.

• Perform a general yard cleanup. Remove old logs, twigs, shrubs, and needles that can add fuel to a ground fire.

• Untreated, wooden shingles are the number one cause of home loss to wildland fires.

• Use fire resistant roofing materials such as metal roofing, clay or concrete tiles, asphalt shingles, or treated wood shakes.

• Clear over-hanging branches, needles, and other combustible debris from the roof.

• Overhang construction traps heat and embers, and will increase the risk of structure loss.

• Enclose the underside of overhangs with noncombustible material or plywood sheathing.

• Remove accumulated debris from below slotted deck surfaces.

• Your siding is as vulnerable as your roof in a wildland fire. Intense heat and firebrands carried by the wind of a wildland fire can lodge in your siding and burn.

• Use fire resistant siding materials such as stucco, brick, concrete block, poured concrete, rock, or manufactured fire resistant materials.

• Remove trees and brush within 10 metres (30 feet) of windows.

• Screen vent openings with 1/4" mesh to keep hot embers out.

• Maintain a 3 metre (10 feet) clearance between branches and power lines. Contact your local power provider to remove dead or damaged trees that may come in contact with the power lines.

• Clear branches within three metres (10 feet) of your chimney outlet.

• Have your chimney inspected regularly by a WETT certified inspector.

• If your home is set back from the roadway or you share a drive or lane way with another resident, your civic numbers must be located at the end of the lane, visible in both directions.

• Can fire trucks reach your home? Do you have a long driveway? Is the driveway wide enough and are the trees cleared enough so that we can get our trucks in?

Every year we do spring clean up around our yards and homes. We must take care if we are burning brush, so it does not get out of control and cause damage to lives, property, and the environment. Between April 15th and October 15th, a burning permit is required by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), to carry out open air burning.  Some municipalities require additional permits, such as HRM (see By-Law 0-103), Open Air Burning. HRM has burn and no-burn zones, so you must check with the local Fire Station to see in which area you are located.

Permits are required so that we can keep track of where people are burning and the number of sites that are carrying out burning in order to make sure that people are only burning brush and that they are doing so safely. Burning outside requires the up most care so that your fire does not get out of control and become a brush, a wildland fire, or as they are called now when structures become involved, Interface Fires. Usually, the fine natural fuels in the surrounding areas, such as small trees (evergreens), bushes, long dry grass, and the dead branches found under trees will ignite readily and burn quickly, causing a great amount of heat and flames which causes a fire to move swiftly along the ground. This not only catches the forest on fire, it also places homes, lives and property near the woods in danger. This is one of the reasons you must have the proper equipment on site to control your burn or put it out. Some of these items would be a garden hose, buckets of water, shovels, rakes, etc. This is why when you obtain a burning permit there are burning restrictions on it, so that the burn can be carried out safely.

When these open air burns get out of control they usually cause alot of damage and are big headaches for DNR crews and the Municipal Fire Service. These types of fires can tax our resources and manpower when we have to fight and put them out.

Many residential developments in the Urban, Suburban, and Rural areas have homes and other buildings in the woods or surrounded by trees or possibly built on a sloped lot. This type of development is being carried out in forested lands throughout the Province and residents must take care during burning to prevent fires from getting out of control.