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Ember Stomp in Jaffray was illuminating
This past April, the East Kootenay FireSmart Program held its second annual Ember Stomp – a Wildfire Preparedness Day event in Jaffray.
Looking for a way to really illuminate the differences between FireSmart and non-FireSmart home landscaping and building choices, Local FireSmart Representative and event organizer, Jessica Chalmers, borrowed an idea from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety Researchers for a demonstration burn.
The plan? To create two structurally similar “tiny houses,” one that was fire-resistant and one that was not.
The Fire-Resistant Structure featured two metal-sided walls and two fiber cement board walls. The corners on the building were made of raw spruce that was painted with fire-resistant primer and then finished with regular exterior paint. The building was finished with a clean aluminum eavestrough. Landscaping consisted of slate stone and a Lilac bush out front.
The Non-Fire-Resistant Structure was finished with new cedar siding, an aluminum eavestrough full of leaves, needles, and cones, and landscaped with bark mulch, needles, cones, and a few small Juniper bushes.
Hot embers were placed next to the buildings in their respective “mulch” materials, one being rock and the other wood. The wood mulch quickly ignited and spread the fire to the structure. The results were unmistakable.
The Fire-Resistant Structure held up remarkably well during the burn, with the only visible effect a blistering of the regular exterior paint. The fire-resistant primer suffered no effects.
Conversely, all that remained of the Non-Fire-Resistant Structure was a puddle of melted aluminum, which was once the eavestrough.
Thank you to all the generous donors who made this demonstration possible, including Canfor Elko, who built the structures for this project. Other donors include Westwing Construction, Cloverdale Paints, Rosen Lake Sand and Gravel, Kevin Smith, and Fernie Home Hardware Building Centre.
Additional thanks to Elk Valley & South Country Rural Fire and Rescue Service members, AC Engelhardt, Lt. Luc Tierens, Lt. Billy Woodford, FF Braeden Legge, and FF Lee Reynolds, who supported this demonstration with a small-scale Structural Protection set-up.
To learn more about the East Kootenay FireSmart Program and how to make fire-resistant choices for your home and property, visit engage.rdek.bc.ca/firesmart
East Kootenay FireSmart Program photos
