Penticton FireSmart

The Home Ignition Zone refers to the area around your home where wildfire embers, radiant heat, or flames are most likely to ignite materials. When completing FireSmart actions, always start at your home and work outward. Improvements made closest to your home, and to the home itself, have the greatest impact on reducing the risk of wildfire damage. 

Download a copy of the FireSmart Begins At Home Guide to use as a reference. 

Review the Home Ignition Zones below for important tips on how to reduce wildfire risk around your property. 

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The Immediate Zone is the critical 1.5-metre space directly around your home and any attached structures. Because this is where embers are most likely to land, it's the area where your efforts will have the biggest impact. Here's how to make it safer:

• Choose non-combustible materials for renovations or new builds
• Clear away flammable vegetation and debris, exposing mineral soil, and replace it with non-combustible ground cover like gravel or pavers
• Avoid planting shrubs or trees right next to your home

The Intermediate Zone covers the area from 1.5 to 10 metres around your home. The goal in this zone is to prevent flames or radiant heat from reaching your house. To reduce risk in this zone:

• Choose fire-resistant plants and non-combustible landscaping materials
• Avoid using woody debris or mulch in garden beds
• Remove combustible items such as firewood, construction materials, patio furniture, tools, and decorative objects
• Relocate trailers, RVs, sheds, and other combustible structures to the Extended Zone
• If relocation isn't possible, store firewood inside an ember-resistant garage or shed
• Use non-combustible ground cover, such as gravel, beneath and 1.5 metres around trailers, RVs and sheds

The Extended Zone covers the area from 10 to 30 metres away from your home. The objective in this zone is to reduce fire intensity and slow its spread toward the structure. If your property includes this zone, focus on the following actions:

• Selectively thin evergreen trees to ensure at least 3 metres of horizontal spacing between individual or grouped tree crowns
• Prune tree branches up to 2 metres from the ground
• Regularly remove fallen branches, dry grass, needles and other surface fuels
• Apply these same practices if your property extends beyond 30 metres
• Collaborate with neighbours where zones overlap, and consult a forest professional for site-specific conditions such as steep slopes

Penticton FireSmart 
Phone: 250-490-2319
Email: firesmart@penticton.ca 
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Penticton Fire Department
Phone: 250-490-2300
Email: fire@penticton.ca
250 Nanaimo Avenue West, Penticton, BC, V2A 1N5

Report a Wildfire

To report a wildfire or inappropriate behaviour that could start a wildfire, call BC Wildfire Service at 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 from a cellphone.