The Society for the Protection of Forests Against fire (SOPFEU) is kicking off the most important awareness campaign on forest fire prevention ever carried out in Quebec. Made possible thanks to the financial participation of the Government of Quebec, this advertising campaign will be deployed on different platforms from today until the end of July. The objective is to raise collective awareness of the role played by human activity in triggering forest fires, in 80% of cases.
Under the theme ” Let’s avoid avoidable fires », the television message features four citizens who, in turn, realize that they have caused forest fires and who live with a feeling of guilt. “Causing a forest fire leaves ashes on your hands”; this is the strong image conveyed by this advertisement in order to raise awareness about the consequences of forest fires.
No one wants to be the one who starts a brush fire or forest fire. When this happens, the people who caused the fire are stunned to realize that their negligence led – or could have led – to very serious repercussions. To change behavior, SOPFEU believes that the population must first become aware that a simple careless gesture can lead to significant impacts, both for the forest and the environment, and for the safety of people and infrastructure. .
The SOPFEU campaign will specifically target the three main causes of fires, namely cigarette butts thrown on the ground (80 fires/year), loss of control over burning of waste (75 fires/year) and fires. camps poorly extinguished (60 fires/year). It will present concrete solutions for each of these causes of fires with the aim of reducing the number of human-caused fires.
With climate change causing more frequent periods of drought and an increase in the risk of fire, SOPFEU believes that prevention and public awareness are more necessary than ever. The protection organization urges the population to exercise extreme caution at the start of the forest fire season.
To view campaign materials: Let’s avoid preventable fires
