This past week, households on Cortes Island received a flyer in their mailbox encouraging homeowners to organize and sign up for a free Neighbourhood Wildfire Threat Assessment from a certified FireSmart professional this spring. 

Shaun Koopman, Protective Services Coordinator for the Strathcona Regional District, has been overwhelmed by the positive Cortes community response, with some neighbourhoods already submitting their application, and several more promising to get theirs in before the deadline at the end of May.

Each application must have anywhere from three to 15 properties signed up, though Koopman says he would likely approve more per application.

The assessment also includes individual FireSmart property assessments for all properties in the application. The FireSmart property assessment can help residents become eligible for rebates to complete the work advised in the assessment, if there is a Firesmart Rebate program active in the community.  The rebate program has already been offered in Gold River, Sayward and Zeballos. Koopman says a similar program may be offered in the future on Cortes Island. 

Koopman says the program was made possible through savings made on the FireSmart Driveway Wood Chipping Service, after the district stopped shipping the wood chips off the island.

BC Wildfire Service faced a “tremendously challenging” wildfire season in 2021, and included the historic “heat dome” in late June and early July, which accelerated the drying and curing of fuels to dangerous levels.

Listen to the interview with Shaun Koopman: