Image Credit: CFJC Today / File Image of Logan Lake

By Dave Barry

Tremont Creek Wildfire

Logan Lake banking on FireSmart steps to protect residents

Aug 13, 2021 | 2:55 PM

KAMLOOPS – Canada’s first FireSmart community is being put to the test.

Logan Lake is under an evacuation order, threatened by the unpredictable Tremont Creek wildfire. The wildfire jumped fire guards Wednesday evening and headed south towards the approximately 2,000 residents in the community .

By Thursday afternoon, Logan Lake mayor Robin Smith signed an Evacuation Order while declaring a Local State of Emergency. “It was a little bit closer than we were comfortable with,” said Smith. “And because of the windy conditions and everything else like that, it just seemed like an appropriate time to make that call.”

The FireSmart program provides a series of best-practices that are designed to reduce the level of devastation that can be created by a wildfire. It includes the removal of small shrubs and trees near the walls of a home, to the building of fire breaks on the outskirts of communities. “We are leaders in FireSmart,” says Smith.

There are a number of different FireSmart programs that the community has been running.

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“One of them is our rooftop sprinkler program. It’s been running for roughly 10 years or longer.” She adds “residents are able to pay for a sprinkler that gets attached to the roof by our local fire department.” The sprinkler can be accessed by the fire department if a wildfire threatens a home.

Many of the approximately evacuated residents are big fans of the FireSmart program. “I think our town is still going to be there when we get back,” says evacuated resident Cathy Inkster. “They did so much with that guard, cleaning it up all around Logan Lake, I think we’ll be fine.”