More residents in the Town of Banff are being offered a partial rebate from the municipal government to help replace their highly flammable wood shingle roofs.

Homeowners are being offered $900 off the cost to make the switch to asphalt shingles, a material that is considered to be less combustible.

The rebate is being offered to a group of homes that are considered to be in a ‘high danger zone’ in Banff.

Tracy Booth, who lives in the designated area, says the program is a great idea, especially when she witnessed the risk of fire first hand last summer.

“Sulphur Mountain is right there and last summer with the fires, you could see the smoke coming up. Any chance to make our home a little more fire-resistant, we’re pretty happy to do that.”

Parks Canada and firefighting crews do a good job to protect residents, she says, but having the new shingles just helps with peace of mind too.

Booth adds the $900 rebate isn’t much, especially considering the roof cost between $13,000 and $15,000 to replace, but it’s better than nothing.

“It’s quite a bit more expensive to do a roof but if you get a rebate, that’s nice too. More people would do it if the rebate was substantially higher.”

77 homeowners have applied to receive the rebate and 31 roofs have been replaced so far.