The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District received their long-awaited Community Wildfire Protection Plan this week.
Written by veteran forester and biologist Bruce Blackwell, the 161 page report outlines 48 recommendations in how to make communities safer from forest fires.
He said the threat is not just from forest fires spreading to populated areas, but house fires spreading to surrounding forests
“Don’t just think about it as a forest fire coming to their home, but that their home could potentially be the ignition source that starts the forest on fire, and that could be just as devastating in Port Alberni as a larger landscape forest fire coming from a lightening strike or some other activity,” he said.
Blackwell recommends increased firesmart education programs, and a community chipper program where yard waste can be turned into compost instead of piling up in yards, creating a fire danger.
