A strategic plan to enhance preparations in the event of a forest fire in a piece of the city's southwest block should be ready by the end of March, says Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks.

About 15 people attended Thursday night's meeting to review a planning initiative aimed at strengthening security against a wildlife in the area west of the Alaska Highway to the Whitehorse Copper Haul Road, between the Mount Sima Road and the Fish Lake Road.

The $75,000-plan being developed by consultant Dave Loeks of TransNorthern Management will be complete by the end of March, Sparks said in an interview this morning.

It will likely be presented to city council some time in April, Sparks said.

The fire chief said this is not a plan to tackle a mammoth blaze that comes rolling down the Whitehorse valley, sending burning embers four or five kilometres ahead of itself.

It's a plan to identify and enhance natural fire breaks like stands of deciduous trees, and to determine which areas require thinning of trees to reduce the fuel load, he said.

'What is there to stop it?' explained Sparks of the advantage of knowing ahead of time what you're up against, and what's working in your favour should a fire start in the general vicinity.

'What can we do to slow it down? What is natural, and where should we do some work, and what sort of work should we be doing?'

By developing the plan, firefighters will have a greater sense of how best to tackle a fire, and where best to deploy resources, he said.

He said the area in question accounts for some 40 to 50 square kilometres, from a total city area of some 422 sq. kilometres.

Eventually, the chief pointed out, similar plans will be developed for each sector of the city. The portion of the southwest block was targeted first partly because of population density and the wide-open exposure to the hinterland.

Given the average commercial cost of between $5,000 and $6,000 per hectare to Firesmart an area, Sparks estimates it will take somewhere between $2 million and $2.5 million to complete the work identified in this plan over five to 10 years.

Cost savings, however, can be realized with volunteer efforts from community associations, much like what has gone on in other areas of the city, such as the work done over the last couple of winters by the Granger Community Association, he said.

Once city council has approved the plan, before any work goes ahead, there'll be more contact with the public, particularly the Granger and Copper Ridge community associations to review and chart a course for the workplan, the chief said.

The intent is to have the community associations and the city file funding applications with the territorial Firesmart program for work this fall and next winter, he said.

'Before we do any work, in any area, we will be talking to the people who are out there again.'

Sparks explained the standard Firesmart program for communities focuses on a 30-metre buffer around subdivisions, and green spaces within.

The Granger Community Association has pretty much completed the necessary Firesmart work on its southern and western flanks. Copper Ridge was essentially Firesmarted as it was developed, in keeping with policy for new subdivisions, he said.

Sparks said community involvement is not hard to attract. Individuals can benefit from simply collecting firewood, to being involved for the purpose of identifying sensitive habitat, or even an individual tree important for bird nesting.

A private contractor unfamiliar with the area may not be aware in mid-winter about the significance of a single tree, for instance, said Sparks.

The area between Mount Sima and Fish Lake Road, Sparks added, is ready to move beyond the 30-metre Firesmart buffer, and onto the larger landscape.

While the plan does not include the country residential subdivisions south of the Mount Sima Road Wolf Creek, Pineridge, Mary Lake, Cowley Creek and Spruce Hills standard Firesmart work in those areas is ongoing.

Area residents, the chief pointed out, have been particularly receptive to Firesmart initiatives focused on the removal of the huge number of trees that blew down in the October 2004 windstorm that slammed those subdivisions particularly hard.

Sparks said while the intent is to eventually develop similar wildfire fire strategies for all sectors of the city, it has not yet been determined which area will be next.