BANFF – The Town of Banff hopes to light a fire under residents to take part in the municipality’s ongoing financial incentive program to replace combustible roofs.
Town of Banff officials say only six homeowners took advantage of the $900 rebate in 2021, a program that aims to get rid of untreated combustible roofs on about 330 homes to make Banff as FireSmart as possible in the event of a dangerous wildfire.
Silvio Adamo, Banff’s fire chief and director of emergency services, said the program is still moving along despite the lull in 2021.
“We’ve been able to assist 105 property owners … so we’re about a third of the way from our goal of eliminating all untreated cedar shake roofs within our community,” he said.
“We hope to be able to do some more public engagement on that in the New Year in the spring to try to get folks re-engaged in that program.”
Adamo said he can make assumptions as to why the program was not as successful in 2021 as in previous years, noting residents likely were being careful with their finances during the COVID-19 pandemic or the timing simply wasn’t right.
“We will continue to engage those remaining homeowners that have combustible roofs and hopefully we can get this program fully subscribed within the 10 years,” said Adamo.
The biggest fire threat to the Banff townsite comes from the west or southwest, where the forest is older and thicker.
Effects of climate change on temperature, precipitation levels, and soil moisture are turning many forests into kindling and fires are expected to burn more frequently, with more intensity and become increasingly unpredictable.
The last several years have seen record wildfire seasons in North America, with neighbouring British Columbia experiencing widespread fire activity in 2021 with drought conditions earlier than usual and a string of punishing heat waves.
In three consecutive days in June, the small B.C. community of Lytton broke the record for the highest temperatures ever recorded in Canada, peaking with Canada’s all-time record high of 49.6 C on June 29. The next day, a wildfire swept through and destroyed the town.
In the Okanagan, the White Rock Lake fire burned approximately 83,300 hectares, destroyed about 80 properties and forced the evacuation of thousands of people, taking more than two months to get officially under control.
Councillor Chip Olver said she believes there will be an uptick in Banff’s roof replacement program once residents can focus more broadly in their lives beyond COVID-19 as time moves on.
“These programs just don’t help the individual homeowner, they help the whole neighbourhood, and the whole town,” she said.
“If we lose one building it’s a terrible loss, but if that building spreads to adjacent neighbours throughout a neighbourhood, that’s catastrophic.”
Successful homes with an unrated combustible roof qualify for $900 per home. A duplex will be eligible for $900 per half duplex. The program has annual capacity limits and if limits are reached, recipients are compensated in the following year's funding allocation based on submission dates.
To qualify for the rebate, residents must provide a copy of the roof replacement invoice and proof of payment, plus show proof that the new roofing material has a minimum Class B fire resistance rating.
A development permit is not required to replace a roof, however, the Town of Banff asks all owners to submit a written description of the property, such as location and current roof material, and a sample of the proposed roofing material for written approval prior to installation.
This is to ensure that the requirements of the land use bylaw and Banff’s strict design guidelines are met.
