“Plenty of Fire Smart Grants Still Available”: Tilt, Merritt Fire Rescue

There is still plenty of funding available for Merritt homeowners wanting to take advantage of the 2023 Fire Smart Grant Program, which provides rebates for making your home or property more fire smart.

Gareth Tilt, Public Education Coordinator with Merritt Fire Rescue, told Q101 news that as of Tuesday only thirty percent of the funding has been allocated to area residents.

“We know the Fire Smart Grant money is there and we want to make sure it is given out,” said Tilt. “The reality is we want to make sure our community is strengthened by everybody doing their part to make sure their homes are fire smart.”

In 2022, the rebate was primarily for the Bench area of the City and offered residents up to $500 if they spent $1,000 in fire smart upgrades. Once again this year, the rebate program is being offered in partnership with the Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) Program and has increased to up to $1000 back if Fire Smart improvements are made to your home.

“The more Fire Smart Grants we give out this year, the higher the chance is we (Merritt Fire Rescue) will have more rebates available for next year,” Tilt added.

For Merritt residents already doing home improvements, Tilt says you may still eligible for the Fire Smart grants.

“We want folks to know that even if you have started renovations to your home you may still qualify,” he noted. “Right now lots of homes have a significant amount of pine needles that are on roofs or in eavestroughs, so if you need to clean your gutters or you are considering installing new roofing or siding, you could get up to $1000 back in rebates.”

Again this year, members of Merritt Fire Rescue is offering to come and check out properties and provide input and advice on how to fire smart and qualify for this rebate program.

“We are also happy to come and do a free home safety assessment and give you some ideas about areas that you may be able to start to get some of that work done,” added Tilt. “If you’re not sure what might apply, by all means give us a call and we would be happy to send over a local fire smart representative to do a little walk around the exterior of your home and let you know what you can do to improve your wildfire resilience.”

For more information or to apply for Fire Smart rebates visit the City of Merritt website at www.merritt.ca/firesmart or call the department at 250-378-5626.