Large fires contained but risk remains extreme
At press time, there were still approximately 875 forest fires burning across B.C. – many are under control, but there are still enough to keep more than 2,000 firefighters and thousands of volunteers on the job.
The declaration of a state of emergency for the province has remained in place as well, as hot and dry conditions have persisted in much of the province.
The majority of fires have occurred in the Interior, which is also suffering from a water shortage as a result of a low snowpack and a dry spring. The causes were typically either lightning or human error. The worst fire, a blaze in the McLure-Barriere area north of Kamloops, was started by a firefighter who did not extinguish his cigarette properly. That fire destroyed 65 homes and a local sawmill.
The large fires have been contained to some degree, and most of the people who were evacuated have been allowed to return to their homes. Still, there is a chance that other serious fires could develop.
In Whistler and the Coast Region, the fire hazard rating remains extreme despite some rain over the past week. There is a ban on all fires in provincial parks, as well as bans on all backyard burning. Barbecues have not been returned to public parks.
"There are no changes to the rating right now," said Assistant Whistler Fire Chief Rob Whitton, but he said the rating could go down from ‘Extreme’ to ‘High’ this week.
Two weekends ago, the Whistler Fire Department was called out three times to put out small fires caused by discarded cigarettes. On Tuesday, they were called out to Treetop Lane to handle a grass fire that had been started by an individual. People from the neighbourhood had extinguished the fire before the fire department arrived, and the fire department is attributing the cause to "human failure". They know the individual responsible for that fire, but have not laid any charges.
According to Whitton, the fire hazard may go down from Extreme to High because of a number of factors, including humidity, ground moisture, winds and temperature, but the difference between those two hazard levels is slight.
"It’s a fine line," he said. "It’s a couple of degrees in temperature, a couple of drops in the humidity level – a few little changes bring the risk from High to Extreme."
If the fire hazard level does go down, he says nothing will change locally – the same bans will still be in place for the region.
Right now the fire department is asking people to be vigilant, to think before they dispose of cigarettes, and to keep an eye out.
"People have been good calling us and alerting us to different things. Early detection allows us to quickly resolve an issue."
Whistler-Blackcomb is also taking the risk seriously, and has instituted a complete ban on smoking on the mountains. They have been running water under the chairlifts on Whistler and Blackcomb, in areas where people typically dump their cigarettes, and taking a host of other precautions.
According to Stan Kelly, the mountains had a small fire under the chairlifts two weeks ago that was likely the result of a carelessly discarded cigarette, and the mountains are trying to work with the public to prevent any future fires.
"Over the years we’ve had about 10 fires under the chairlifts, and usually the cause is always the same – somebody wasn’t thinking and dropped their cigarette off the chair," said Kelly.
More than 100 Whistler-Blackcomb employees have been through forest fire training, and special fire prevention measures have been taken this year. Fire boxes filled with tools for fighting fires have been left at strategic locations around the mountains and workers are taking extra care.
The current hazard level has also kicked in new Ministry of Forest regulations that prohibit the use of power saws, chainsaws and other electric and power tools.
"There are no open flames of any kind, so no fires and no welding," said Kelly.
In addition, crews that are involved in trail building on the mountains stop work at 1 p.m. and walk the area they are working to look for any signs of fire.
The key, he says is to make the public aware of the risk. He says people are generally pretty good, but that there are some people who just don’t get it.
"We want to make them think about what this valley could look like if a big fire got out of hand as a result of someone being careless," he said.
"And not just on the mountain. Someone throwing a cigarette out of a car window or something could end up in the grass and the duff… it’s slow burning fuel, but it could easily get going."
The B.C. government is providing emergency assistance for people who have been forced to evacuate their homes as a result of the fires. A complete assessment of costs and damages won’t be made until all fires are under control.
According to Starr Munro, the fire information officer for the Ministry of Forests protection branch, there have been 2,005 fires reported across the province this year, which is well above average.
The government anticipated that this could be a bad year and budgeted $55 million towards forest fire fighting this summer.
"We’re already slightly over that budget for this year, what we had expected, and the season is still going," said Munro.
Some regions of B.C. are the driest they’ve been in 50 years, according to Ministry of Forests data. However, the coastal regions saw an even drier summer in 1985.
So far 203 fires have been reported on the coast this year, 62 of which were listed as still active at press time. Of the total number of fires, 67 were caused by lightning and 136 by people. Only 83 hectares have been affected by "spot fires", said Munro.
The province as a whole have seen 93,883 hectares affected by 2,005 fires, 1,251 of which were caused by lightning, and 742 of which were caused by people.
The numbers are changing daily, said Munro, and no relief is expected any time soon. The southeast coast of the province is particularly vulnerable, she said, because of the increase in lightning activity.
"It’s still extremely dry out, and we’re not expecting a substantial amount of rain in the Interior or on the coast. People need to be very careful, whatever they’re doing."
