A new federal grant to support fire prevention will see a $76,000 contribution to Lac La Biche County’s new Wildfire Mitigation Incentive Program.
The new program is in conjunction with the Municipal Climate Change Resiliency Grant funded by Intact Insurance which aims to not only support existing fire prevention programs across the country, but also address the impacts climate change can have on natural disasters.
For the local community, the approval of the grant is another step taken to support residents and Protective Services staff with infrastructure costs related to protecting properties from fire disasters, said John Kokotilo, the county’s manager of protective services and regional Fire Chief.
The new grant will help continue fire prevention efforts and encourage homeowners to get involved in the program—which has seen multiple departments working towards fire prevention over the years,
The rebate program will work in conjunction with the county’s existing FireSmart program that saw the Protective Services department receive $50,00 this year to run fire prevention services. FireSmart is part of a provincial awareness and funding program through the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) that is offered annually.
The services include educational programming and in-person home assessments. Educational services about the importance of clearing up yards to help reduce the spread of wildfires, chipping trees and brushing around property lines to reduce fire hazards are also provided. Additionally, services to provide subsidized purchasing of fire concise rooftops and buildings attached with sprinkler systems are also available through the program.
“We’re very excited about it.…We’re in the infancy in respect to FireSmart programs with respect to other communities—it’s our fourth year,” Kokotilo said. “We wouldn't be here without the FireSmart staff, they’ve been incredible and they continue to excel and I think it’s only going to go in a positive direction for many years to come.”
The program is expected to begin this summer and will run until the fall of 2023. Applications will be assessed throughout the season by county staff who will approve and reimburse projects up to $2,500 or 50 per cent of the cost, said Carl Kurppa, the County’s Grants and Community Funding coordinator.
“Funding is for projects or programs that address…wildfire resiliency,” says Kurppa which can be applied to infrastructure projects, education and raising awareness. “It’s effectively a rebate program for homeowners who can apply for funding to do wildfire related mitigation projects.”
While the county aims to cover the costs of recent property upgrades after completion, there will be an opportunity to receive funding ahead of time on a case-by-case basis, Kurppa added.
With over 140 municipal applicants, funding was available for 10 municipalities across the country through the $1 million grant. In Alberta, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and the Town of Whitecourt were also a part of the small group that will receive funding to put towards fire prevention projects in their communities.
Application rules
The new program will see Protective Service staff administrators, review and approve any FireSmart upgrades that residents have done on their properties, while the municipalities grant department will work to establish guidelines and deal with applications, said Kurppa.
As county department’s prepare for the application, Kruppa says property owners interested must meet guidelines that will be available soon.
As of now, residents must undergo a FireSmart assessment or have been enrolled in the FireSmart program since January 2022. Each applicant will only be considered to receive the grant funding for one project, however, additional applications may be considered depending on funding, said Kurppa.
“If someone does have a second good application and the uptake on the program is lower, then we were hoping we might approve multiple applications for homeowners, but we would have to see,” he said.
While the $76,000 grant will cover improvement costs on commercial and residential properties, any costs related to staff and assessments will come from the FireSmart program, said Kokotilo.
“Part of the administration is out of the first grant that we got from FRIAA. The assessments are through that grant; a follow up is also through that grant. It’s part and parcel that this Intact incentive is sort of in the middle of it.”
Incentivizing homeowners
Ultimately, while the grant funding aims is to protect homes from fire, Kokotilo adds in the future there are plans for FireSmart programs to potentially trigger a reduction in home insurance costs for residents.
“There is word that FireSmart is going to be coming into play with respect to insurance rate premiums, and that’s going to be in the very near future,” he said. “If people [join] FireSmart, they can have a reduction in their rate. It’s positive going forward.”
