Emergency Preparedness Week

Emergency Preparedness (EP) Week is an annual national event that takes place during the first full week of May.

All EP Week activities remind us that we can reduce the risks and lessen the consequences of a disaster by being better prepared.

MNR participates annually in this event through open houses and specific EP Week events. Please continue to visit this site and check your local newspaper or new stations for information on EP week activities in your community.

We Live in a Fire Environment

Every year in Ontario, communities are evacuated or homes and cottages are destroyed due to wildfire.

During the summer of 2003, British Columbia experienced their worst fire season ever. Over 2,500 wildfire starts in the province destroyed over 334 homes, many businesses and caused the evacuation of over 45,000 people.

Ontario has been fortunate in avoiding this scale of disaster but the potential to experience fire seasons like British Columbia’s is very real here too.

Forests cover approximately 85% of Ontario’s land mass. Forest fire is a natural process that has shaped these forest ecosystems.

Each year more people are choosing to live in peaceful rural surroundings and build increasing concern to forest fire agencies and fire departments in Ontario and around the world.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) has been helping Ontarians deal with protecting property from wildfire for decades, as well as working with municipalities and other fire protection organizations to ensure response systems are in place to respond to wildfires.

Recently, MNR and the Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM), with support of the Wildfire Committee of the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, adopted a program called FireSmart. FireSmart is an integrated approach to preparing for and responding to the wildfire threat in the wildland/urban interface. It incorporates the latest in fire science and stresses the community’s and fire agency’s responsibilities for ensuring the proper systems are in place to prevent and mitigate loss and damage from wildfire.

FireSmart Protecting Your Community from Wildfire is an illustrated guide with practical tools and information on how communities can work towards reducing the risks and losses from interface wildfires.

This manual describes:

• wildland/urban interface fire issues
• outlines a wildfire hazard assessment system, provides solutions for vegetation management
• provides infrastructure and structural options
• outlines emergency response measures for agencies and individuals
• describes interface training for municipal firefighters
• and discusses communication and education strategies to reduce the risk of fires in the wildland/urban interface.

This document can be downloaded from the following website: www.partnersinprotection.ab.ca

The Home Owners FireSmart Manual provides property owners with information and steps they can take to reduce the risk of losing their home in a wildfire event. The manual deals with site preparation and maintenance, building materials, and includes a checklist for assessing home and site hazard. Copies can be downloaded from the Aviation and Forest Fire Management website.

The MNR and OFM encourage municipalities to adopt Ontario FireSmart principles within their communities and to make use of the information provided to mitigate wildfire risk wherever there is a potential risk of wildfire in their community.

Any questions regarding Ontario FireSmart can be directed to your local fire service or MNR Fire Management Headquarters.

• Are You FireSmart?
• Ministry of Natural Resources Offices