CRD FireSmart Education Program looking to become full-time

The CRD hopes the FireSmart Education Program will become full-time for the foreseeable future.

The CRD has put in an application to the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) for funding to the tune of $392,000 from the UBCM’s Community Resiliency Investment FireSmart Fund.

Irene Israel, Manager of the Emergency Program Services for the CRD, says that the funding will build off what the CRD has been establishing through 2024.

“The intention is to continue with a full-time FireSmart position to implement the FireSmart Education Program throughout the Cariboo Regional District,” Israel says. “Based on what we’ve heard from this education program, and feedback from the community, we [the CRD] are taking the next step to making the CRD a FireSmart community.”

In addition to the full-time position and education program, the funding from UBCM will also cover the costs of building six new Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans in the next year.

These Community Wildfire Resiliency Plans help identify the high-risk areas for a wildfire and recommend strategies to protect the region.

Currently, the Cariboo sits in one of the highest-risk areas in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) risk classes. The CRD plans to build more resiliency plans to help know the most high-risk areas, to better protect and prevent a wildfire from spreading.

“The intention is to build 12 new Community Resiliency Plans,” Israel explains. “We’re doing them in phases. Year one is 2025, and year two is 2026, so by then we should have 12 plans that will cover the entire Cariboo Regional District.”

A FireSmart and Green Waste Education Program was run until October 23rd this fall. Israel says that the feedback from the community and province has been “very positive”, and provided the ground for the CRD to push the education program to the next stage.

The CRD encourages residents of the Cariboo to reach out to their FireSmart Educators if they have any questions about the program.