Be Prepared

Clean your chimney on a regular basis.
Check all smoke / carbon dioxide detectors once a year.
Stack firewood, propane bottles and gas cans away from your residence.
Make sure driveways are well marked with your civic address sign and reflectors.
Make sure your driveway is wide enough and ploughed well enough for any emergency vehicle to drive in and turn around.
Have an escape plan and make sure every member of the household is familiar with that route. Practice plan twice a year.
Have a designated meeting place.
Have a complete set of warm clothing for every member of the household stored in a structure other than the main residence.
Have a battery-operated radio and landline phone (not portable) on hand in case of power failure. Depending on type and range of the power failure, your cell phone might not work.
If you must use candles, make sure to keep them away from flammable materials, such as curtains, and out of reach from young children and pets.

Rake combustible materials, such as leaves and pine cones, from around your buildings.
Remove debris from all rain gutters.
Do more Fire Smarting around your buildings. In the 1st priority zone: The first 10 metres of space around your buildings should be fuel free and your grass mowed and watered. 2nd priority zone: The 10 – 30 metre area should have a low density of trees where crowns of evergreens do not touch or overlap. Tree thinning should be done in the 3rd priority zone, which is from 20 – 100 metre from your building.
Trim limbs to a height of 2 metre from bottom of trees.
If you are near a water source, place a pump nearby and install a sprinkler system on and around your buildings.
Obtain a free burning permit (for your burning barrel and any slash burns) between April 1st and September 30th from the Southern Lakes District office of Protective Services. THIS IS MANDATORY.