District of Hope FireSmart

10/01/2026

🏠🍂 CLEAN YOUR GUTTERS THIS FALL!
Your gutters aren't just there to move rainwater—they can also collect dry leaves, needles and other combustible debris.
Before winter, make sure you:
🧹 Remove leaves and debris from gutters
🔎 Check for buildup around downspouts
🍂 Clear debris from the roof and areas where it collects
🏡 Include your gutters in your regular fall home maintenance
Wildfire embers can travel significant distances, and combustible debris on or immediately beside your home can create an opportunity for ignition.
🔥 Want a professional set of eyes on your property?
FireSmart Hope provides FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessments to help homeowners understand their wildfire risk and prioritize improvements.
👉 Book your FREE assessment today!

09/28/2026

🪵 DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR DECK!
When you're doing your fall yard cleanup, take a few minutes to look underneath and around your decks and staircases.
🔎 Check for:
• Leaves, needles and other debris underneath the deck
• Accumulated combustible material around stairs
• Damaged or deteriorating components
• Vegetation growing against or underneath the structure
Decks and stairs can be vulnerable areas during a wildfire, particularly when combustible debris has accumulated underneath them.
🍂 Make your fall cleanup count.
FireSmart Hope offers FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessments to help you identify wildfire vulnerabilities around your home.
🏡 Schedule your FREE assessment today and find out what you can do before next wildfire season.

09/25/2026

YOUR YARD NEEDS A FALL TRIM TOO!
Fall is a great time to reduce the amount of vegetation around your home before winter arrives.
Take some time to:
✂️ Prune overgrown shrubs and trees
🌱 Mow and maintain seasonal vegetation
🍂 Remove dead vegetation and accumulated plant debris
🏡 Keep vegetation from directly contacting your home
Creating separation between vegetation and your home can help reduce the opportunity for fire to spread to your property.
🔥 Want to know exactly what needs attention?
Schedule a FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessment with FireSmart Hope. We'll help identify practical ways to reduce wildfire risk around your property.
👉 Book your FREE assessment today!

09/22/2026

🍂 FALL IS THE PERFECT TIME TO GET FIRESMART!
As leaves begin to fall, they can quickly build up around your home—and that dry material can become fuel for wildfire embers.
This fall, take a few minutes to:
✅ Remove leaves, needles and debris from around your home
✅ Keep the area immediately around your house clear
✅ Clean up accumulations under decks, stairs and other structures
Small steps now can make a big difference during wildfire season.
🏡 Not sure where to start? Book your FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessment. A trained assessor can identify specific actions you can take to reduce your home's wildfire risk.
👉 Contact FireSmart Hope to schedule your FREE assessment.

09/18/2026

🍁 YOUR FALL FIRESMART CHECKLIST 🍁
Before winter sets in, walk around your property and tackle these five simple jobs:
☐ Remove leaves and debris from your yard
☐ Prune shrubs and trees and mow seasonal vegetation
☐ Check decks and staircases for damage and debris
☐ Clean leaves and debris from your gutters
☐ Schedule your FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessment
You don't have to do everything at once. Start with the areas closest to your home and work outward.
🔥 The best time to reduce your home's wildfire risk is before the next wildfire.
FireSmart Hope can help you identify where your efforts will have the greatest impact.
🏡 Book your FREE FireSmart Home Assessment today!

09/15/2026

🔥 FALL IS THE TIME TO GET FIRESMART — BECAUSE THIS SUMMER REMINDED US WHY IT MATTERS.
If you live in Hope, you don't need to be reminded how close wildfire can feel.
This summer, wildfire smoke repeatedly settled into our community, turning our skies hazy and impacting air quality. In August, the District of Hope issued an air quality advisory as wildfire smoke caused very poor air quality and reduced visibility.
And just up the Fraser Canyon, the Brunswick Creek Complex demonstrated how quickly a large wildfire situation can develop in our region. The complex resulted in evacuation orders and alerts affecting communities north of Hope, while wildfire smoke travelled throughout the region.
For Hope, this is more than something happening somewhere else.
🔥 Wildfire is a real risk to our community.
The good news? There is a lot we can do before the next wildfire.
That's where FireSmart comes in.
This fall, we're launching a Fall FireSmart Campaign focused on simple actions homeowners can take now:
🍂 Remove leaves and debris
🌿 Prune and mow seasonal vegetation
🪵 Check decks and stairs for debris and damage
🏠 Clean debris from gutters
🔥 Reduce the amount of combustible material around your home
And you don't have to figure it out alone.
🏡 BOOK YOUR FREE PROFESSIONAL FIRESMART HOME ASSESSMENT
A FireSmart assessment can help you understand the specific wildfire vulnerabilities around your home and identify the actions that can make the biggest difference.
The next wildfire won't wait for us to be ready. Let's use the fall to get ahead of it.
👉 Contact FireSmart Hope today to schedule your FREE FireSmart Home Assessment.

09/12/2026

🔥 VISIT THE FIRESMART HOPE TABLE! 🔥

Thinking about how to better protect your home from wildfire?

Stop by the FireSmart Hope table at Brigade Days and chat with us about simple, practical ways you can reduce wildfire risk around your property.

🏡 Learn how to make your home more FireSmart
🔥 Get tips on the highest-priority areas to focus on
💰 Find out how you can qualify for a $500 FireSmart rebate
📋 Learn about our FREE professional FireSmart Home Assessments

Whether you’re just getting started or already working on your property, come say hello and see what resources are available to you.

Stop by the FireSmart Hope table and let’s make your home—and our community—more wildfire resilient.

We’d love to see you there! 👋

08/28/2026

🔥 DON'T COUNT ON SPRINKLERS TO SAVE YOUR HOME

When people think about defending their home from wildfire, sprinklers often seem like an obvious solution.

And sprinklers can be an important tool—but they are a last line of defence, not your primary wildfire protection strategy.

During a wildfire, Structure Protection crews may strategically install sprinklers around homes to create a “humidity bubble” and help protect vulnerable areas from embers and burning debris.

But residents should focus their efforts somewhere else first.

The most effective things you can do are right around your home:

🧹 Clean your roof and gutters
🍂 Remove leaves and debris from decks and balconies
🌱 Keep grass and weeds under 10 cm
🪵 Move firewood and lumber away from structures
🌳 Prune trees and remove combustible vegetation
🏠 FireSmart your sheds, garages and other outbuildings

These actions directly reduce the fuel available to an ember.

Compared with these basic FireSmart actions, residential sprinkler systems are one of the least effective things a homeowner can rely on as a wildfire defence.

And please don't pre-emptively turn on sprinklers during a wildfire. Doing so can waste valuable water, cause property damage and interfere with the water resources firefighters may need.

💡 Think of it this way: Don't try to put out the wildfire—make sure the wildfire has as little to ignite around your home as possible.

Prepare your property now. Give firefighters a home that is harder to ignite and easier to defend.

— Hope FireSmart Team 🚒🌲

08/26/2026

🔥 WOULD YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO IF AN EVACUATION ALERT WAS ISSUED TODAY?

During a wildfire, things can change quickly. Taking a few minutes now to make a plan can make a big difference when every minute counts.

Ask yourself:

📍 Where will you go if you need to leave?
🚗 Do you have a transportation plan?
🐶 How will you evacuate your pets?
🎒 Are your important documents, medications and essentials ready to go?
📱 Do you know where to get reliable local emergency information?

Don't wait until you're told to evacuate to figure it out.

Download the Emergency Wildfire Preparedness Checklist from FireSmart BC and start getting your household ready today:

👉 https://firesmartbc.ca/resource/emergency-wildfire-preparedness-checklist/

Preparedness isn't about expecting the worst. It's about being ready for it.

— Hope FireSmart Team 🚒🌲

Once a year, the Wildfire Resiliency and Training Summit brings together wildfire practitioners from all over BC and beyond. The upcoming summit will take place in Victoria on April 8 – 12, 2026.

08/21/2026

🔥 WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WILDFIRE THREATENS A COMMUNITY?

You may have heard the term Structure Protection Crew, but what exactly do they do?

When wildfire threatens homes, the BC Wildfire Service can deploy specialized Structure Protection Specialists and crews to help defend communities.

🏠 They assess properties quickly to determine the best way to protect them.

🌲 They reduce flammable vegetation and materials where possible, helping eliminate opportunities for embers to ignite a home.

💦 They may deploy sprinklers strategically around structures to create a “humidity bubble,” reducing the chance of embers and burning debris igniting combustible materials.

But here's the important part:

Sprinklers are a last line of defence—not the first thing you should do to protect your home.

For residents, installing or activating sprinklers is one of the least effective wildfire preparedness actions you can take compared with physically reducing the fuels around your home.

Your best protection starts with:

🧹 Clean roofs, gutters, decks and balconies
🌱 Keep grass and weeds short
🪵 Move firewood and combustible materials away from your home
🌳 Prune trees and remove hazardous vegetation
🏠 Apply FireSmart principles to your home and outbuildings

During an active wildfire, trained Structure Protection crews may use sprinklers when conditions and resources make them appropriate. Don't assume your own sprinkler system will save your home.

Make your home harder to ignite BEFORE the fire arrives.

— Hope FireSmart Team 🚒🌲