Kaleden FireSmart Committee

FireSmart updates

June 2020

Neighbourhood FireSmart project

A great example of neighbours helping neighbours took place in Kaleden this week. With the help of the local FireSmart Board, the project unfolded as follows:

Neighbours recognized a dangerous fire risk behind their properties that falls on crown land.
An assessment of the property was done by local FireSmart Board members. The property was very overgrown, had many dead, low-lying branches and was packed with years of fallen pine needles.
An EZ Bin was arranged for and dropped at the site.
Some preliminary tree trimming took place prior to crews coming in to work.
The neighbours gathered on a Saturday morning and got to work. After four hours of very hard work, the bin was loaded to the max and the property looked amazing!!
This is an example of what FireSmart BC wants to promote. Identify a problem and work with your neighbours to commit to the work, make use of Kaleden’s Tool Lending Program and be super proud of the results.

If your property or neighbourhood has a similar problem, please contact the local FireSmart Board for assistance in having an assessment done, suggestions and guidance to complete the work. Call the KVFD number and leave a message for FireSmart at 250-497-8231.

FireSmart Day 2020

The Kaleden FireSmart Board is happy to announce that the chipping event has been rescheduled to take place on October 17, 2020!

It does sound a long way away, but it gives residents and neighbours lots of time to plan their projects and a good fall clean-up can take place as well. More information will follow.

In the meantime, we encourage residents to trim and weed whack the long grass near and around their properties. We are hoping AIM can come and do their part, but being proactive is always helpful.

Take advantage of the yard waste pick-up and keep pine needles well-raked.

As a result of the hard work and multiple projects that were completed in 2019, Kaleden once again qualified to be recognized as a FireSmart community. This is a great achievement.

Kaleden FireSmart Community sign with 2019 date

December 2019

The KID land between Oak and Tamarak is the latest property to have FireSmart work completed. Thank you to Larry Richardson and crew for the fine work.

September 2019

Not all FireSmart initiatives can be seen from the road! Two neighbours from along Pineview worked together and have done some excellent work removing debris from the slope behind their houses that goes down towards the KVR trail. With the help of workers from Discovery House in Penticton, over 80 bags of pine needles and dead branches were cleared from the bank. This action will provide safety for their homes in the event of a Wildland fire. Awesome work, Howards and Bellevues!

June 2019

The Telus building site at Oak and Lakehill is being worked on to become yet another Kaleden FireSmart location. This clean up is a result of neighbours of the site and the Kaleden FireSmart Board working together with Telus to hire a contractor to come and do the required work. Good job everyone.

October 2019

Kaleden FireSmart Tool Lending Program

The FireSmart Board is happy to announce that we now have a Tool

Lending Program available to Kaleden residents. A very gracious donation from a group of locals makes it possible for people to borrow tools to help FireSmart their properties.

Rakes, trimmers, extendable saws, pitch forks and safety helmets will

make getting the job done easier. Call 250-497-8231 and leave your

name and phone number if you need a tool to help get your

burnable debris taken care of and we will get back to you. That is the

Firehall number so please specify that you would like to borrow a tool.

Thank you, Karen, Ian and Doug, for organizing a fun, neighbourhood

Whiffle Golf Ball Tournament to raise money for an awesome cause.

FireSmart Day 2019

This year on May 5, there were 120 truck and trailer loads of dead trees, limbs, pine needles and grasses hauled to a chipping site and disposed of. Neighbours helping neighbours have reduced the hazards of Wildfire in Kaleden.

Although FireSmart Day is over for 2019, please continue to be diligent and clear dead trees, old cedars and tangled underbrush throughout the year. Let's keep Kaleden safe.

Thank you, E-Z Bin, for the bin donation for grasses and pine needles. Thank you, Fortis, for sponsoring the chipper. Thank you to all those community members who spent their day being part of an epic clean up.

FireSmart Day 2018

On May 5, in conjunction with National Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, Kaleden residents came together to target problem areas in the community and to decrease combustible debris. Working on private properties to limb, trim, rake or remove dead trees and shrubs, residents hauled their debris to a chipper on a designated site. Two-and-a-half industrial bins were filled.

A demonstration project also took place on Kaleden Irrigation District lands to show how to trim and thin trees to slow down a wildfire. This was a very successful day with nearly 250 volunteer hours of work.

Wildfires are not new to the South Okanagan; however, Kaleden experienced an interface fire in 2017 that threatened many homes and was considered a wake-up call for our rural community. Kaleden is lucky to have a local volunteer fire department that worked day and night to extinguish the fire with support from outside departments, as well as the BC Wildfire Services out of Penticton. After the fire, following the FireSmart Canada initiative, a local FireSmart Committee was formed. The focus of the committee is to bring awareness to wildfire risks and to provide structure that will engage homeowners and neighbours to mitigate wildfire hazards on private lands.

With the help of a grant through UBCM, a Community Wildfire Assessment has been completed for the KVFD Fire Protection Area. We can now move forward with plans to reduce fire hazards within and around the community.

FireSmart has become a nationally recognized program that provides communities with excellent information on creating action plans that are doable and cost-effective.

Kaleden is in a wildfire-prone area and residents are encouraged to work to reduce the risk of fire spreading on and around their properties. Many FireSmart practices are now in place that help homeowners take action and commit to the cause.

In 2018, Kaleden became a nationally recognized FireSmart Community. In July 2019, thanks to the great work being done by many residents to reduce fuel build up on their properties, we were nationally recognized again as a FireSmart Community.