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Kelowna  

Make sure you 'soaker'

A national survey on fire safety found people don't truly understand the risks they take with fire.

Results of a National Wildfire Prevention Campaign were presented this week at the Wildland Fire Conference in Kelowna.

Hayley Hesselen from the University of Saskatchewan explained that from July to September 2016, 1,824 people filled out the survey in its entirety.

The survey was conducted by Canada's wildland fire management agencies to learn about public understanding of wildfire prevention programs and how these programs and prevention messages could be improved.

According to Hesselen, respondents gave four main reasons why they do not comply with fire safety guidelines.

The survey found that 67.5 per cent of respondents answered they did not understand the risks involved when they fail to use fire safety, 43.9 per cent said they did not believe they would get caught if they started a wildfire, 42.6 per cent said the current fire-safety message is not reaching the right audience and 21.2 per cent said the current messages are not memorable or meaningful.

When asked why people would not comply, the top five answers were a failure to recognize the risk/'it won't happen to me,' carelessness, stupidity, lack of information and a lack of respect/failure to be accountable.

Among the survey questions were several fact-based questions to test knowledge. The two questions that stumped the most respondents were the fact humans are the greatest cause of wildfires and that wildfires are most active in the daytime.

Respondents were asked to to rate some fire-safety slogans for their impact and effectiveness. Of the 12 slogans given, respondents favoured 'Remember – Only YOU can prevent forest fires', 'When you see a fire, report it immediately!' and 'Soak it. Stir it. Soak it again!'

When asked to provide their own catchy slogans, Hesselen says respondents got quite creative. One of her favourites was 'You can be a hiker, a camper, a smoker, a toker, but before you leave make sure you “soaker”. Put out your fire!'



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