No. FireSmart Advanced Home Assessments are free.
FireSmart
FireSmart
Protect Your Home From Wildfire
Wildfire risk is part of living in Parkland County, especially for homes, acreages, and neighbourhoods near grasslands, trees, and natural areas. FireSmart, a national program, helps you take practical steps to reduce the chance of wildfire damage by making small changes in your home and yard.
Book a Free FireSmart Advanced Home Assessment
A FireSmart Advanced Home Assessment gives you personalized advice for your property. A trained assessor from Parkland County’s Fire Services team will visit your home, walk around the outside of your house and yard, and provide a customized report with actions you can take to reduce wildfire risk.
What Happens During an Assessment?
During your assessment, our FireSmart team will:
- Tour the outside of your house, yard, decks, fences, outbuildings and nearby vegetation.
- Look for materials or conditions that could increase wildfire risk.
- Provide a customized report with recommended actions.
- Share practical tips to help make your home and property more resilient.
- (Optional) Offer a follow-up assessment after you complete recommended improvements.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The assessment is strictly educational and does not affect your taxes.
Most assessments take about 30 to 45 minutes.
We recommend that you are present so you can ask questions and get the most value from the visit.
If I don’t implement the suggestions and a wildfire comes through, will I be penalized?
No. The report provides recommendations only. It is designed to help you understand your risk and decide what actions are right for your property.
Will my Home Insurance go down?
Possibly! Some insurers offer discounts for properties that have completed a FireSmart Home assessment and implemented the recommended actions. Check with your insurer if they offer this.
Start With the Area Closest to Your Home
Many homes damaged by wildfire are ignited by sparks and embers that land on or near the home. The most effective place to start is the area closest to your house.
Immediate Zone: 0 to 1.5 metres
Remove leaves, needles, firewood, mulch and other combustible materials from around your home, steps, foundation and from under the deck.
Intermediate Zone: 1.5 to 10 metres
Keep grass short, clean up branches and dry vegetation, move firewood away from your home, and use fire-resistant landscaping materials where possible.
Extended Zone: 10 to 30 metres
Thin and space trees, prune lower branches, remove ladder fuels and clean up fallen branches, needles and dry grass.
Work With Your Neighbours
FireSmart works best when neighbours take action together. Talk to your neighbours, share what you learn from your assessment, and consider becoming a FireSmart Neighbourhood Champion or hosting a Neighbourhood Clean Up.
What is a FireSmart Neighbourhood Champion?
You and your neighbours have a major role to play in reducing the wildfire threat to your community. Changes made to the area closest to your home have the greatest impact on reducing the risk of wildfire damage. FireSmart™ Canada wants to recognize neighbourhoods that work together to reduce their risk in the event of a wildfire
A Neighbourhood Champion will help rally their neighbours and act as a point of communication with a Parkland County FireSmart Representative.
As a neighbourhood, your team of worker bees, will work together to remove non-FireSmart landscaping from your private properties. The work is done by homeowners helping homeowners.
What is a FireSmart Neighbourhood Clean Up?
A FireSmart Community Cleanup is a great way to bring neighbours together and help reduce wildfire risk in your area.
Before the event, Parkland County’s FireSmart Coordinator will assess the neighbourhood to identify key areas of concern and help guide cleanup efforts.
On cleanup day, residents work together to remove potential fire hazards from common areas or individual properties, learn helpful tips from local FireSmart Assessors, and connect as a community.
Parkland County will also provide a BBQ to celebrate everyone’s efforts. Gather your neighbours, choose a date, sign up, and help build a safer, more resilient neighbourhood for years to come.
Contact us
To learn more about FireSmart in Parkland County, email our team at firesmart@parklandcounty.com or call (780) 968-8888.
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