Whitecourt Fire Chief Brian Wynn uses his own house to show the importance of WASP

In a wildland fire situation, the local fire department can quickly become overwhelmed while working to protect the community. With a fire on the brink of reaching Whitecourt, embers will be visible as they land on homes, decks, and trees. Should the conditions be dry, and they probably will be, these embers will light up and start fires in advance of the fire helping it to grow further and further.

On Thursday, May 10, Fire Chief Brian Wynn invited the Whitecourt Press to his home to see firsthand a new system that he is excited to share with the community. The Wildfire Automated Sprinkler Protection, called WASP, is an easy to use sprinkler system that keeps residents on the ground with no need for a ladder or to get up on the roof. “It hangs on your eavestrough and deploys in minutes. You could have this set up in a just a couple minutes, turn the water on, and if we’re evacuating the town then you can leave it on and go. It’s a lot easier for us to come along and turn them off than it would be to get things deployed in the first place.”

Chief Wynn was quick to point out that he wouldn’t be able to protect his own house in the event of a wildfire and neither would the rest of his firefighters. For those who remember, firefighters in Fort McMurray had to helplessly watch their own homes burn or be sacrificed and not be able to do anything about it. “Everybody has to be able to do what you can on your own because we only have three firetrucks. Am I coming to your house? Probably not, so you need to quickly do what you can.”

Embers or nearby fires aren’t going to spark up on a roof, deck, tree, or fence if it is wet. Chief Wynn also said that having these sprinklers in use wouldn’t affect his crew in their firefighting efforts because they could easily turn the water off to certain areas. “If we don’t think that an area of town needs water to be on then we can go around and easily shut off the taps.”

Residents can use a broom handle or an extension rod to quickly put the hose mount up on their eavestrough and move it as needed depending on the wind or direction of the fire. The kit comes with two brackets that can be painted to match your house.

Whitecourt Canadian Tire has the system in stock and Chief Wynn hopes that residents will take advantage of the relatively low cost of the kit considering what it can save. It’s not even just for a wildfire situation either. What would you do if your neighbour’s house caught fire? “In two minutes you can have your house protected. It’s going to take us at least 12 minutes to get a fire truck there. You can have it protected for 10 minutes before we even get there.”

At this year’s Trade Fair, Chief Wynn, along with his firefighters, gave residents the chance to see the system up close, and for those who couldn’t make it he invites you to pop by the station. “I have one set up at the hall and we can show residents exactly how to do it,” he said. Insurance companies are also starting to jump on the WASP bandwagon and many are offering up to $100 to clients who purchase the kit. “If even the insurance companies are recognizing that this a good thing to have and will cut you a check then it’s a pretty good deal. I don’t know of a better deal out there.”

Chief Wynn added that aside from already having sprinklers in place there really isn’t an easier option but said that permanent sprinklers have risks. “The problem with having everything already up is that it is exposed to the elements. The sun deteriorates everything and erodes it and rots out the hose. With these, you just store them in a box on your deck and it’s ready to go when you need it.” To learn more the WASP system visit www.waspwildfire.com or the firehall.