New research shows FireSmart principles worked to save homes during 2023 West Kelowna wildfire

Photo: Kristen Holliday

West Kelowna fire chief joins panel discussion on post-wildfire research completed after 2023 fires.

Speaking in front of dozens of local government representatives on Tuesday, West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund drew the audience’s attention to a picture of a scorched patch of patio located in front of an exterior glass door.

Brolund said firefighters managed to save the house in question — but a seemingly innocuous decor decision could have tipped the scales in the other direction.

“That house was destined to burn down — and the reason why was because they had a straw mat at the front door,” Brolund said.

“You’re going to hear a lot about ember transfer today from this panel, and that’s exactly what happened here — a decision to have a $9 straw mat at your front door almost cost you your house.”

The fire chief attended the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver as part of a panel presenting post-fire research that took place in areas devastated by the Grouse wildfire complex — including the McDougall Creek blaze that devastated West Kelowna in the summer of 2023.

BC Wildfire Service’s Hannah Swift, FireSmart program lead, said the project was initiated in August 2023 by the B.C. FireSmart Committee, which enlisted FPInnovations to undertake the research.

Greg Baxter, senior researcher for FPInnovations, said the research team wanted to find out how structures ignited, where they ignited, and how the fire spread into the structure. He noted they tapped a structural fire investigator to contribute to the project — the first time this has been done when researching fires in Canada.

The team used a number of methods to identify fire behaviour and spread, the factors contributing to structure ignition and structure loss, and the impacts of fuel modification and land use planning.

Baxter said high winds drove embers to ignite structures — not the head of the wildfire itself.

“The main factors contributing to ignition is the flammable materials within one and a half meters of the structure,” he said, noting cedars were a common factor.

“They're great for privacy, and they grow fast — but they burn really, really, really well. And we saw some examples of four-metre cedars 10 meters from a structure that cracked the glass,” he said.

Aside from vegetation, other contributing factors included vehicles, all-terrain vehicles and wood piles sitting against a house.

Thoughtfully-maintained properties stood a better chance of withstanding a fire. Baxter noted one property where the owner had fastidiously raked up all the pine needles between the trees growing on his land, a strategy which worked to stop the fire before it hit his wood shed.

“There was very little fuel,” Baxter said. “The fire couldn’t build any intensity.”

Attendees were told previous research from the Toronto-based Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction indicates if a house has a well-mitigated 1.5 to 10 metre buffer and a non-combustable roof, there is a 90 per cent chance of the structure surviving a wildfire.

Aside from property-related measures, Swift said the B.C. research team also took into consideration land use planning. She noted by making use of wildfire development permit areas, local governments can start to address high-risk areas in the community.

“What this allows them to do is add technical requirements that address the form, exterior design, and finish. Wildfire development permit areas also address vegetation management, as well as fencing management,” she said.

Attendees were also encouraged to consider limiting urban sprawl in rural areas and avoiding building single access and egress neighbourhoods.

Brolund, who has been in the fire service for nearly three decades, said he is passionate about FireSmart principles, noting mitigation work is a fraction of the cost of dealing with wildfire and resulting fire damage.

He noted another photo of a home in the Rose Valley neighbourhood that was left standing after the wildfire swept through the neighbourhood.

“I was the last one to drive by this place when we pulled the firefighters out — because we could not safely suppress fire in that neighborhood. One way in, one way out, just the nature of all of the trees that were there and the access and the water supply,” the fire chief said.

“The fact that this house survived wasn't because there was a fire truck parked in front of it. It survived because of the FireSmart principles.”