Yesterday's wildfire on the edge of Cochrane serves as a good reminder of the importance for a community to be FireSmart.

"It's a very good example," says Cochrane Fire Chief David Humphrey. "All that it would have needed was a different set of wind conditions and it would have been a completely different program." 

Cochrane Fire Services is in the midst of developing its FireSmart plan. An assessment has been now been completed and they hope to secure government funding to design a prescription plan this summer, to be followed by mitigation projects in the future on town public land and parks.

"We know the hazard areas in town, we have that all mapped out."

Once the prescription plan is devised they will begin mitigation with the assistance of the town's parks department.

Actions include possible changes in vegetation, thinning, mowing more often, stripping material away, pick up the down dead and decaying branches and cutting lower limbs; all potential fuel.

"Our FireSmart program is balancing our grassland and our mixed woodlands and our spruce and jackpine stands."

At the same time, they are working with the public to understand the importance of keeping backyards FireSmart and it's especially important for those properties adjacent to wildland and public space. That includes making sure the underside of their decks are clear, eliminating leaf and needle build up and removing any debris between fences and garden sheds. It's areas like these areas where embers and cinder are known to spark a fire.

"If you look around sometimes there are some things just a few hours of general cleanup in the spring or in the fall that will make your place that much less susceptible to the encroachment of a wildfire."

"We're not saying it's going to happen, but science tells us that we're likely to have that problem. Many of our fires are human-caused and so that potential is there."

Cochrane is in a wildland interface, like many Canadian communities, and while we think of wildfires is something that happens elsewhere, like Fort McMurray or Slave Lake, it could happen here. With our climate, we have the potential for wildfires in any given month.

"We look at them every year on the news. What we're trying to get people to understand is you can make this better. We can't stop wildfire instantly. We can slow it down and mitigate it and stop it. But you can do a lot of things to protect your own property so that when a wildfire pushes through and it's being managed by the local responders, there's often fewer consequences and the damage is far less if you do."

He suggests neighbourhood programs like "community champions" as a way a number of households could get together on a block in a sociable way by cleaning their yards then having a get-together.

"Working collectively together as a street can make a difference. That's what the essence of FireSmart is. It's the community looking after their properties and making their homes as safe and as viable as possible."

Being FireSmart extends to even how homes are constructed in urban environments and how new residential areas are designed.  Development standards play a significant role in reducing the potential impact of wildfire on a community.

"It's an ongoing process. You don't just do it once and forget about it. It needs to be done on a consistent basis."