Nine months after receiving recommendations for interface fire safety, View Royal is piecing together a lengthy list of improvements.

“It’s a big report. It’s a big issue,” said View Royal Fire Rescue Chief Paul Hurst. “I just want to make sure I present the right information (to council).”

The report, undertaken by B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd., outlined 34 recommendations for the Town to mitigate the risk of an interface fire, defined as blazes between a urban and forested areas.

Recommendations include a review of water accesses and improved road accesses — specifically for Highlands Road which runs though Thetis Lake park.

For the 15 homes at the northern end of View Royal, Highlands Road is the only way in and out of their properties.

The road is narrow, restricting not only the speed a vehicle can travel but the type of vehicle that can pass though. The fire department’s larger trucks do not fit properly on the windy road.

“No matter what you do you can only go 30 km/h in a big truck,” he said.

Hurst has had early discussions with the Town’s engineering department about what it would take to improve Highlands Road.

Likely to be done in sections, the road needs to be widened and the surrounding underbrush cleared, Hurst said.

“Obviously it’s a big dollar issue.”

There is no infrastructure within the park to accommodate fire hydrants. Tanker trucks or dry hydrants would be used instead, making repairs to the road all the more necessary.

“Historically there haven’t been a lot of fires up here but I have the responsibility to protect it so I have to plan for it,” Hurst said.

Some of the less costly items within the report have been implemented, Hurst said. Upcoming developments in town are including larger setbacks from forested areas and thinning of nearby forested areas.

There is also consideration for the building supplies used. Much of the recommended public education and consultation with other agencies was already happening, Hurst said.

Public education specific to residents in interface areas is also planned for early next year, he said. That would include property tours to help residents mitigate the risk of fire.

“A lot of the aspects of the recommendations are naturally falling into place,” Hurst said. “We are moving forward with the public information aspect of it.”

The CRD approved 47 of the 48 recommendations specific to them in May. Still to be dealt with is the fuel load, or flammable material, within regional parks. Parks staff sited the need for further study on that issue.

View Royal council has had some preliminary discussions, however, they are waiting on Hurst’s report before moving forward on the larger recommendations — particularly infrastructure needs, said Mayor Graham Hill.

Hurst met with CRD Parks and BC Forestry the month to discuss how viable some of the recommendations are. Only when it is clear what is realistic for the Town will the options be presented to council, he said.

“These are things the guys are always thinking about,” Hurst said. “We ‘what if?’ everything thing to death.”

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com