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***DUE TO THE BCGEU STRIKE THE VENTING INDEX SITE IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED. AS THERE IS NO WAY TO DETERMINE THE VENTING INDEX OTHERWISE, WE ARE FORCED TO SUSPEND ALL BACKYARD AND CATEGORY 3 BURNING UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.***

THE CHIPPING PROGRAMME WILL BE BACK THIS YEAR FROM NOVEMBER 3-8. 

FireSmart ™
Free Yard Waste Wood Pick-Up
The Comox Valley Regional District and K’omoks First Nation using Community Resiliency Investment
Grant funding are, once again, offering a free wood debris pick-up on Denman Island for six
consecutive days beginning on Monday, November 3. All the chipped wood will be kept on Denman
Island. It will go to Lone Pine Farm to be made into compost for use on the farm.
The chipping initiative is undertaken to encourage FireSmart Safety on residential properties
by removing wood debris that could easily spread wildfire to homes and other structures and to
minimize smoke pollution if the waste wood were to be burnt.
If you want to take advantage of this free program to dispose of wood wastes, the rules and limitations
are:
• No rocks, no metal, no roots (to prevent damage to the chipping machinery)
• No treated lumber. No leaf piles or grass clippings.
• In fairness to all, keep the size of the bundle reasonable. This program does not apply for land-
clearing
• Tree trimmings must be under 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter and under 10 feet (3 meters) in length
• No invasive species such as Scotch Broom, English Holly, Giant Hogweed, Knotweed permitted
• “Butt-ends” of the branches must be stacked towards the road to facilitate efficient chipping
• The contractor reserves the right not to pick up any pile that they feel doesn’t meet these
rules
• Bundles are to b e placed clearly visible at the end of your driveway – Not on public roadways
• Any debris brought to the end of your driveway late, that is after the start of the chipping program
on November 3rd may not be picked up.
This is a free program
To participate, your bundles of wood debris must be placed by the road before the morning of
November 3rd.
Denman Island Fire Rescue strongly endorses this program to remove fire fuel from around our Island.
We encourage all Denman Island residents to become familiar with and implement the FireSmart™
Program to reduce the potential impacts of wildfire on your home. We have an extremely informative
booklet that will assess your property’s risk and outline steps needed to minimize your risk. If you do not
have a copy of FireSmart Homeowner’s Manual, they are available in the red box beside the
Firehall’s main door (5555 Denman Road).
If you have any questions about the free chipping program or about FireSmart, please email Denman
Island Fire Rescue at divfd@island.net
FireSmart, Intelli-feu and other associated Marks are trademarks of the Canadian Interagency
Forest Fire Centre

We are continually making up address signs for those residents who want to be found on those dark, stormy nights. Have you got yours yet?

While we’re on the subject of finding you, the other problem we’re having, once we find you, is getting to your house with our vehicles. We need at least a 12’x12’(4mx4m) “hole” all the way down your driveway to get our trucks through. Then we need some place that we can turn around or at least stage our trucks. The harder this is, the longer it takes for us to help you.

With new vehicles not coming with ashtrays anymore, cigarette butts continue to be a problem. Please dispose of them properly rather than throwing them out windows or dumping them on the ground. This is becoming a problem especially along road sides and at mailboxes.

The new “Get Notified” campaign is underway for Denman and Hornby residents. Go to the CVRD website and sign up for emergency notifications specific to our islands.

On a final note, if you are in need of the fire department immediately, please do not leave a message at the firehall( volunteer department and unmanned) or send a text to the duty officers phone(we all know what cell service is like on Denman), call 911. 911 on Denman is used much differently than it is in Vancouver or Victoria. For us, 911 is the way to get the fire department to you quickly, even if it is just for an investigation. When you call 911 for an investigation, such as a burning complaint, they will page us out and open a channel. This allows them to monitor our duty officer and, if anything goes wrong, summon help for them. The duty officer phone is a great way to get information that does not have a time constraint(again Denman cell service), but not for emergencies or to report something that is causing you concern. And, of course, if you are having an emergency, medical or otherwise, CALL 911.  

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*Thank you to Mark Prior for the new photo.