As wildfires destroy homes, should B.C. make FireSmart principles mandatory?

The number of homes lost in British Columbia due to out-of-control wildfires is yet to be tallied — but with weeks left in the peak of fire season, hundreds of structures across the province have been burned.

In Summerland, B.C., where a fast-moving fire forced the evacuation of thousands of people across the region, the mayor has warned evacuees to "brace for what's not there."

With wildfires becoming more destructive, there are calls from experts to make it mandatory for homeowners and builders to implement FireSmart principles into their designs.

FireSmart is a program that teaches the public about ways to mitigate the impact of wildfire near homes, and provides funding for retrofits and building upgrades to make homes more resilient to fire.

Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., said it's time those lessons go from recommendations to rules.

"If you're in a high-risk location, we should be making some FireSmart principles mandatory," he said, arguing the recommendations only work if they are applied consistently.

"You could be FireSmart and your neighbour isn't. Then a rain of embers comes down — their house catches fire and then your house catches fire."

Rachel Woodhurst, a FireSmart program lead based in Salmon Arm, B.C., describes the principles as "giving your property the best chance to still be standing when you return."

"Cleaning your gutters, keeping your lawn short, making sure your roof doesn't have debris, and certainly what we're choosing to landscape," she said.

For example, while juniper and cedar hedging are popular in B.C. to create shade and privacy, they're highly flammable, making deciduous plants a safer option in areas prone to fire. FireSmart also recommends spacing out trees to slow the spread of fire, and pruning them to create a two-metre clearance from the ground up to the lowest branch.

It also advises keeping firewood and fuel sources away from homes and sheds, and investing in garden sprinklers and roof-watering systems.

Some communities that have been devastated by fire have taken those lessons to heart in their rebuild.

After being threatened by fire in 2003, the District of Logan Lake undertook intense local efforts to make the community more fire resilient, and eventually became Canada's first FireSmart community.

The preparation worked — it credited its mitigation efforts with saving homes from a subsequent fire in 2021, despite the fire coming within feet of homes.