Department works with commercial owners to reduce fire threat

The Kelowna Fire Department is helping to educate business owners about how to minimize fire hazards around their buildings.

The department has created a video targeting business owners, outlining what actions they can take to reduce the chance of fires spreading beyond their structures and creating urban, interface fires.

“If a commercial building adjacent to a dry hillside were to catch on fire, it could have dire implications to the dry slopes above the building,” said Paul Johnson, fire prevention officer. “By educating the businesses and building owners on how to mitigate the hazards around the commercial building, we hope to minimize damage both to the building and to the surrounding forest/grassland.”

The department uses proven FireSmart techniques along with BC Fire Code storage requirements to reduce the chances of an exterior fire damaging the building.

Johnson said the video details how to deal with combustible vegetation within 1.5 metres of the building and recommends removing cedar hedges and juniper bushes. The fire department is following its own recommendations and applying FireSmart principles to all of the Kelowna fire stations. The adjacent cedars were removed from the property and the bark mulch is being replaced with FireSmart approved ground cover.

Johnson points out the Fire Danger rating in the Central Okanagan is now listed between high and extreme.

“We all need to do our part by keeping our community safe and keeping it a desirable place to live and to visit. The Fire Department asks residents to notify the fire department whenever they notice smoke in the area and remain vigilant when it comes to fire safety,” he said.

View the new “Outdoor Fire Prevention for Commercial Properties” video here, and find other City of Kelowna fire safety videos by visiting, kelowna.ca/fire.