Kamloops Fire and Rescue says this week’s house fire in Aberdeen is a good reminder about the need to Fire Smart your property by removing cedar trees.

Speaking on NL Newsday, KFR Life Safety Educator Jeff Pont says it is because those trees are highly flammable.

“I have kind of become the cedar police,” he said. “We’re finding that in all areas of Kamloops, people have a lot of cedars, and we understand that, they’re great for privacy, they’re nice looking plants, but they are fire bombs.”

“That is probably the biggest thing when we went to properties at both strata’s and residential properties to try and get people to remove those cedars from around their homes.”

KFR crews extinguished a residential fire yesterday, and we believe every fire has a teaching point. @kamloopsfirerescue is adamant about the removal of cedars, and Fire Smart principles. Had crews not been so quick to respond, the second home may have been lost. Fire Smart. pic.twitter.com/jZK9Z5oNAE

— Kamloops Fire Rescue (@KamFire) July 13, 2022

But that said, Pont notes KFR is not pushing for a ban on cedars in Kamloops.

“We’re hoping just to educate people and help them understand how volatile the cedar and the juniper plants can be and discourage them from planting them,” he said. “It is a lot of work to remove them, however, it is also a lot of work to rebuild a burnt home. It is risk versus reward.”

Pont says having a one-and-half-metre buffer around your home is a good Fire Smart practice that people should follow.

“It is an ongoing process. We need to again look at the risk that we are willing to live with around our homes,” he said.

“We want people to really understand that these steps with Fire Smart, it is proven science, and taking these steps to make your home Fire Smart, does work.”

To learn more about Fire Smart, go here.