The District of Lake Country is applying for grants in order to mitigate the risk of wildfire in the community.

Lake Country is applying for up to $100,000 from the Community Resiliency Investment program, which is a new provincial program intended to reduce the risk of wildfires in communities across B.C., according to a report which was presented to council Tuesday night, after Monday’s newspaper deadline.

Part of the funding will go towards a plan, which will identify at-risk areas in the district and figuring out what’s needed, said Coun. Todd McKenzie.

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“The social, economic and environmental losses associated with recent fire seasons emphasized the need for greater consideration and due diligence in regard to fire risk in the wildland-urban interface. In considering wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface, it is important to understand the specific risk profile of a given community, which can be defined by the probability and the associated consequence of wildfire within that community,” the report said.

The district is also seeking a grant from Forest Enhancement Society of British Columbia in order to focus on wildfire risk reduction in the Beaver Lake and Oyama Lake Watersheds.

“The impact from a wildfire in our watersheds could have a negative impact in our region. Immediate and long term delivery of water for domestic, irrigation, commercial and industrial service would impact local government resources with effects reaching well outside the immediate community.

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“The financial, environmental and social impacts from flooding, loss of water sources and degradation of water quality following major fires could not only impact the downstream water users but also many other resources that operate in and rely on this watershed,” the report said.

In 2017, a wildfire on Nighthawk Road destroyed eight homes with an insured loss of more than $13 million.

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