FireSmart Community

The District of West Vancouver is offering free FireSmart Home Assessments to all residents interested in learning how to improve the resiliency of their homes in the event of wildfire.

Use the link below to select a day and a time and a local FireSmart representative will visit your home and provide recommendations on how to help reduce the risk of wildfire on your property.

You will receive a FireSmart Home Assessment Score Card identifying ways you can make your property FireSmart. Building construction types and materials, landscaping around homes, and the presence of combustible materials will be included in the assessment.

Plus, properties with completed assessments qualify for free wood-waste FireSmart Chipping Services.

Book FireSmart Home Assessment

Please note during registration you will be asked to provide permission for a local FireSmart representative to walk on your property without anyone home. We do not require access inside the home.

An email will be sent to confirm your appointment.

Dates

• September 10-13
• September 16-20
• September 23-27
   

Time slots 

• 8–9 a.m.
• 9:30–10:30 a.m.
• 11 a.m.–12 p.m.
• 12:30–1:30 p.m.
• 2–3 p.m.
• 3:30–4:30 p.m.
• 5–6 p.m. 

West Vancouver is offering a free FireSmart Chipping Service to homes that have completed their FireSmart Home Ignition Zone Assessment. This FireSmart project is designed to reduce the wildfire fuel levels on private property and is a significant immediate step you can take to increase your wildfire resiliency. 

How to Request the FireSmart Chipping Service:

1. Book a FireSmart assessment. This ensures essential FireSmart information is shared, including structural and landscape considerations.
2. Homeowners clean up their property and pile natural woody debris with no gravel or loose leaves curbside.
3. Email [email protected] to arrange for the chipping crew to attend and remove the piles of material. Please ensure to include your name, email address, home address, and top 3 dates for service.

Homeowners do not need to be home to receive the chipping service and they can continue to receive the service as required and funds are available.

Accepted materials 
If it can be raked it should be placed in your Green Can for curbside collection. 

Materials that can be included for pick-up include:

• natural woody debris
• tree limbs
• stems

Materials not accepted include:

• construction material
• garden debris
• invasive species 

FireSmart Workshop are occasionally held to provide residents with more information about what it means to be FireSmart. Presentations are recorded for those who could not attend.

Watch the presentations on YouTube

• April 26, 2022 FireSmart Workshop - for developers and builders
• July 29, 2021 FireSmart Workshop

 Help decrease the risk of wildfire to your home, yard, and neighbourhood by taking steps to reduce fuel for embers and flames.

Homes ignite due to the condition of the home and everything that surrounds it. Changes within 10 metres of your home, including the removal of combustible surface material, will have the biggest impact. 

Click here to Enlarge the image.

What you can do:

• If you live in an eligible neighbourhood, sign-up for a FireSmart Home Assessment in the section above 
• Review the FireSmart Home Assessment Score Card or download the Fire Smart Begins at Home app 
• Take a look at the FireSmart Begins at Home Manual
• Watch Penticton’s Fire Chief give a Home Ignition Assessment for a homeowner
• When making FireSmart changes to your yard, consider timelines for bird nesting seasons and District of West Vancouver tree management regulations.

Follow riparian area guidelines and take measures to prevent the spread of invasive plant species:

• Invasive species
• District of West Vancouver tree management 
• Nesting information (Zone A1)
• Riparian Areas Regulation Brochure (BC)  
• Riparian Areas Protection Regulation (BC)
• Eco-friendly lawns and gardens  

To protect against wildfire risk, Wildfire Hazard Development Permits are required for work within the Wildfire Hazard Development Permit Area (i.e., within 100 metres of an undisturbed forest interface).

Wildfire Hazard Development Permits

Community Champions are needed in each of the seven FireSmart neighbourhood zones in West Vancouver. 

As neighbourhood leaders, Community Champions are volunteers who advocate for wildfire safety. They connect with and motivate their neighbours to make their homes and communities less vulnerable to fire.

Volunteers will take part in FireSmart workshops to learn more about how to develop an action plan to reduce wildfire hazards. They then pass on the skills they learned to other volunteers in their neighbourhood zones.

Volunteer Info: Jeremy Calder 604-925-7392