N.S. allots $200,000 for wildfire risk prevention in Upper Hammonds Plains

The Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust has received money from the Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund for projects that help reduce wildfire risk. (Source: Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust)

The Nova Scotia government is spending nearly $200,000 to help protect residents and buildings in one of the province’s oldest African Nova Scotian communities from wildfire risk.

The province says the money will go to the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, a non-profit organization established in 2022 to protect land settled in 1815 by Black refugees of the War of 1812.

“Upper Hammonds Plains has been looking after itself for more than 200 years, and this project carries that work forward,” said Curtis Whiley, founder and CEO, Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, in a news release from the Nova Scotia government.

“A home is only as secure as the community around it. Our residents, our FireSmart committee and our partners are doing their part, and Upper Hammonds Plains will be safer for it.”

The funds will be used to help protect the organization’s 85 historic homes, church and other community buildings, with a focus on:

• community-wide action, including a wildfire risk assessment and mitigation plan, emergency planning, a FireSmart Committee, community education, cleanup events and roadside fuel reduction
• individual properties, including free home wildfire risk assessments and the creation of non-combustible zones around homes and buildings
• shared community assets, including measures to protect the community centre, church and new housing, and exploring wildfire sprinkler systems for key infrastructure.

“Wildfires are a reality across Canada and around the world, and the devastation we saw next door in Tantallon in 2023 is still fresh for many families in Upper Hammonds Plains,” said Rick Burns, MLA for Hammonds Plains-Lucasville, in the release.

“With this grant, the entire community is taking action to protect homes, safeguard heritage and increase community resilience, and with local contractors being used to do the work, every dollar is staying in the community. Upper Hammonds Plains is showing what it means to prepare, to protect and to lead, and the Province is proud to support their work.”

According to the release, the trust plans to apply to FireSmart Canada for designation as a FireSmart Recognized Neighbourhood this fall – a title given to entire neighbourhoods “because wildfire risk is shared and actions taken on one property help protect nearby homes.”

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