Perfect Partners NEP and Community FireSmart
SEP Neighbours and Firesmart volunteers workingtogether. (photo credit Barbra Fairclough)
Barbra Fairclough- on behalf of the members of Hacking Neighbourhood Emergency Plan Group
Our Neighbourhood Emergency Plan group (NEP) is in Sunnybrae and our interest in the Community Firesmart program began after I received a call from a neighbour who works in fire suppression in Alberta. The Bush Creek East fire as a catalyst, this phone call on August 28 last year opened the door to action.
Our NEP met online for the first time. Over the course of several weeks, we meet three times to discuss and share information. Everyone benefited by this connection, knowledge sharing and the opportunity to ask questions.
Firesmart became central to our discussions. Some already had a home Firesmart Inspection and meeting helped us decide that a Community Firesmart Assessment would be beneficial.
Len Youden, Firesmart Coordinator at the time met with us in Sunnybrae in early 2024 to discuss the Community Assessment that had been completed. Many of us travelled from their winter homes to be here for this meet up. Len shared much information. His knowledge of fire behavior helped our group gain a more comprehensive understanding of fire, its impacts and what we could do to mitigate any potential future fire threats. It was clear so much was in our hands.
We had our eyes opened a bit and were all thankful to have the interest and support for making our neighbourhood resilient against fire. With follow up discussion in our NEP we decided on May 4 and 5 for a Firesmart Community Clean Up Weekend.
Working within our NEP pursuing the Community Firesmart was a natural fit. We already had a way to communicate with each other and the NEP’s primary focus is to support community level emergency planning and be more resilient against disasters. Through the NEP we work towards developing a neighbourhood response plan, identify potential hazards and potential impacts. This is an ongoing and ever evolving process.
We did all the planning for the May weekend including arranging for a meal and determining how many bins we could fill and coordinating delivery. Our weekend included having four bins delivered as well as a tow-behind chipper. We arranged for a meal on Saturday to feed our hungry workers! We worked with Ministry of Highways to gain support to close the road for work days.
Neighbours enjoying a well earned meal. (photo credit Barbra Fairclough)
The 30 residents volunteered over 1500 volunteer hours dedicated to filling those bins. Some households made special trips from out of the area to do work ahead of the planned weekend. 75% of the NEP are seasonal residents. They travelled a combined 23,826 km, some on multiple trips expressly to do Firesmart clean up work. Some folks hired helpers to complete the work ahead of time when the work seemed like too large a task.
Both work days began with a circle meet up on the road at 8 am with coffee. Everyone had a chance to share thoughts, ideas and listen to others and have a few laughs. A work plan was made, and we learned how each task could be tackled. We learned who could use a bit more help and we all pitched in with a plan to make sure everyone got help when they needed it.
The work went well, and the main thrust was getting all the brush and trimmings into the chipper and bins. Working in self organized teams made the tasks at hand efficient and easy to tackle. This was a case of many hands making light work. With a predetermined finish time to close bins for the day, we ensured that nobody worked tired.
It was remarkable how we came together and the spirit of intent towards helping in a neighbourly way was noticeable in the many laughs and new friendships.
We know our neighbours just a bit more and we know now that if we were in a moment to respond to fire or other emergencies, we are more familiar with each other and have a better understanding of our neighbourhood needs. We are practiced at communicating and working in a team and will be in a better place to respond and work together should an emergency arise.
Sophie Randell, now the Firesmart Coordinator (replacing Len Youden), Will Porterfield and Lesley Tessier, both firefighters with the Tappen Sunnybrae Fire Department volunteered their time to work along side us and to share knowledge. Everyone had fire related questions as the weekend unfolded. Tappen Sunnybrae Fire Chief Marc Zaichkowsky offered words of support as well. We had many questions that day and without the support of this team it would not be possible for us to achieve such an incredible amount of work.
Knowing they had our backs made it easy for us to take charge of the moment and tackle the work. Our gratitude to Len, Lesley, Will, Sophie, and Marc for the support, their knowledge and their interest in working with us.
