Dear Discovery Ridge neighbours,
Recent wildfires in places such as Jasper, Kelowna, and California have highlighted the importance of a proactive approach to fire risk management in Griffith Woods and Discovery Ridge.
The DRCA has heard from many residents with concerns, questions, and offers to help. A Wildfire Safety Committee was formed to try and liaise with the City and Province to reduce fire risk for Discovery Ridge community using available community capacities and leveraging government resources. The following initial issues were identified:
• The considerable amount of deadwood as fuel in Griffith Woods.
• Prolonged hot, dry periods, leading to dry bush and ground cover.
• People lighting fires in the woods (and lack of signage and monitoring to prevent this).
• The proximity of housing to Griffith Woods.
• Home designs, construction, and landscaping are not risk informed.
• Low community awareness of the risk factors and the seriousness of this situation.
• Lack of joint early warning system between the City of Calgary and the Tsuut’ina Nation.
• Lack of emergency readiness/preparedness, response, and evacuation plans.
• Absence of fire risk mitigation hardware in Griffith Woods, such as sprinkler systems.
• Misalignment of efforts between the Calgary Fire Department, City Parks, and the Province.
• Concern about cigarette smoking in the woods beside the Wedgewood property.
Based on these identified concerns, the Committee has done and continues to do research on wildfires and wildfire safety organized into the following categories:
• Vegetation Management
• Construction
• Human Behaviour
• Emergency Preparedness Planning
• Fire Suppression Hardware
• Community Awareness and Communication
• Coordination, Implementation, and Representation
The DRCA Committee has pursued many avenues including the City of Calgary, Calgary Fire Department (CFD), Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), and more. A group meeting was arranged with all key departments at the table. We were told that Griffith Woods does present significant concerns. We were also told there are emergency plans in place for locations such as Discovery Ridge but that they cannot be shared with us.
A very constructive meeting was subsequently held with our contact from the CFD Fire Chief’s Office, and they have committed to developing an educational campaign for Discovery Ridge this spring, a review of fuel management will be looked at in conjunction with the Parks department and we are hoping to get involved with a “Climate Resistant Communities” initiative.
The DRCA will continue to advocate for our community and push for the experts to initiate measures to protect and educate our community.
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