Despite wildfire conditions improving in and around Thunder Bay, Ont., on Tuesday, there are many steps residents can still take to reduce their wildfire risk and the likelihood of negative impacts to their properties.
Mark Shruiff, the fire chief for Neebing Emergency Services (NES), said the number one cause of fire spread and damage to properties or dwellings is caused by embers that are being thrown from fires.
“It can be hundreds of metres that it can throw this one ember which then starts another fire, starts another fire and it’s a chain reaction,” Shruiff said.
As such, he said people can undertake different plant, landscaping and home modifications to help protect their homes and prevent fires from spreading.
For instance, Shruiff listed that people could clean up bushes around their property, install metal roofing, regularly clean eavestroughs, remove flammable material within the immediate ignition zone — up to a metre and a half from houses — and ensure trees are trimmed up to roughly six feet in yards.
“The chances of the fire climbing up that stump are very slim,” Shruiff said.
Raising awareness on fire prevention
A lot of the time, life is busy and people may not necessarily have the time to do these things, he said, but it is something that NES stressed was “incredibly important.”
“Everyone thinks, ‘Oh, you know, that’ll never happen to me.’ But you know what? Times are changing. Fires are becoming more intense. They’re becoming more numerous. We’re getting crazy weather events over the last few years,” Shruiff said.
“That big one is coming — that is my opinion — it’s just a matter of when and whether or not we’re going to be ready for it. And I think collectively in northwestern Ontario the conversation has started [and] the concepts have started to get pushed.”
For Shruiff, he said, educating the public and having them know these programs exist and become familiar with them is the biggest thing.
“That’s one of the things we are going to be pushing heavily when we do our open house this weekend,” Shruiff said.
A fire prevention talk in Neebing, will start at 3 p.m. in the Blake Community Hall on Saturday.