nwtfire.com

Every wildland fire season, somewhere in the country, the continent or the world a community seems to experience a catastrophic wildland fire event, which threatens lives and consumes homes and other buildings.

The forests of the NWT, under the right weather and forest fuel moisture conditions, support high-intensity wildland fires that are virtually unstoppable. These fires are often naturally occurring.  They have the potential to spread quickly over great distances and to place people and community infrastructure at risk.

Environment and Natural Resources is working with communities in the NWT to develop and implement Community Wildland Fire Protection Plans (CWPP).  These plans are designed to identify and reduce wildland fire risk in communities.  CWPP’s are becoming a national standard for agencies and communities responsible for wildland fire management. The process is recognized as a crucial first step in better preparing homeowners and communities to reduce the risk of loss.   A CWPP has two main components – a Wildland Fire Risk Analysis and recommendations to mitigate those risks.

Completed CWPPs help communities to:

• make sound decisions on which areas are most critical to address;

• develop funding applications to assist in the implementation of recommendations;

• and, work with private landowners/homeowners to take responsibility and address their own exposure to risk

For more information on how you and your communities can better protect yourselves from wildland fire, visit the NWT FireSmart section of this website.

If you have specific questions in regard to Community Wildland fire Protection, please call your Regional Forest Officer.