Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today

By Dylana Kneeshaw

BURN PROBABILITY

District of Clearwater presses on with FireSmart efforts after topping AI-calculated wildfire risk list

Jan 20, 2025 | 5:30 PM

CLEARWATER, B.C. — New data shared by AISIX Solutions, a data analytics company, that utilizes artificial intelligence, has identified Clearwater as having a higher likelihood of a wildfire compared to other small population centres.

The burn probability ranking stems from historical conditions and other factors. Making the top of that list caught the attention of the district, whose mayor says while the ranking is somewhat concerning to hear about, Clearwater has been making strides in wildfire prevention.

Interest in FireSmart assessments has grown over the past week in Clearwater after the district was identified among other small towns in Canada as having one of the highest burn probabilities.

FireSmart Coordinator Chance Breckenridge says he’s conducted more than 60 assessments since July of 2024, and in the past week he’s received a little more than a dozen requests for property assessments. Some of that interest may have stemmed from discussion amongst community members about the AISIX data, but Breckenridge says in general, more and more people are putting their minds to wildfire prevention.

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“It was usually just, ‘We may have a fire season.’ Now it’s, ‘There is going to be a fire season and they’re getting longer and longer, and more intense.’ Folks are realizing that we have to prepare and this is going to be a way of life during the summer,” says Breckenridge.

Mayor Merlin Blackwell says he has some questions around what information was used to create the list, but Clearwater being named wasn’t entirely surprising.

“We’ve long known that we’re one of those communities because we do have so much forest in and around Clearwater, and we’re not that dense of a community as far as population and houses and things like that,” notes Blackwell. “There’s a lot of forested land in Clearwater, so it puts us at a higher risk.”

Because of that, Blackwell says the district has already been doing fuel mitigation work on district land and crown land for the past decade. And Wells Gray Community Forest has also been working on surrounding parkland.

“And it all helps. But what we really need to do is push on private land inside and outside the boundaries of the District of Clearwater now,” notes Blackwell. For an in-person boost in prevention education, over the summer, Breckenridge was designated as the district’s FireSmart coordinator.

“With the FireSmart program, I do free FireSmart home assessments. I can talk about if people are interested in sprinklers and sprinkler replacement. We also do some mitigation work. We’re working on looking at areas around town that could use some mitigation work, as well,” he explained, adding that there are different levels of mitigation work people can do that come with different costs. New siding and a new roof will be more expensive, while removing bushes and pruning trees are less costly to do.

Given the abundance of trees in and around the community, wildfire risk is not a new concern, but the approach to it has been evolving into a more proactive one.

“We’re in this together and if each person does their part on their property and individually, it makes the whole community safer,” adds Breckenridge.