The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary has received over $277,000 in FireSmart funding from the Union of BC Municipalities community resiliency investment program.
The grant, the largest awarded to the RDKB for its FireSmart programming, means that individuals and communities across the region are poised to become more FireSmart savvy than ever before, the RDKB said in a news release.
“Funding helps to build resilience during fire season so this is fantastic news for anyone living in the regional district, particularly within our hard to reach electoral areas,” said emergency program co-ordinator Carlene Pires.
“This injection of financial support will provide a real boost to our public engagement activities which have taken a hit during the pandemic. It will also improve our wildfire response and readiness, as well as our ability to enhance community connectivity.
“Moving forwards, we’ll be in a much better position to empower the public with the FireSmart knowledge and tools they need to reduce wildfire risks and impacts.”
The community based FireSmart planning project, funded by the grant, will enable the emergency program team at the RDKB to identify wildfire risks, reduce existing wildfire threats, build forward thinking communities and facilitate more region-wide firefighter training opportunities.
It will also encompass a Community FireSmart Education program to deliver FireSmart principles to the public and allow more cross-training projects to take place between fire departments and emergency staff within the region.
Pires says the funding is greatly appreciated and will be used to manage the FireSmart program, widen its reach and support a range of activities to be delivered collaboratively in partnership with local organizations.
The program, introduced by the provincial government in September 2018, provides communities in BC with funding and support to complete FireSmart initiatives. The RDKB has previously received funding from the program, in smaller amounts.
