BC Wildfire Service, in correlation with the Regional District of the Central Kootenays, held an information and education presentation on Aug. 29th at the Nakusp and District Communtiy Complex. The evening was intended to provide information on local fires, the fire season through the entire province, as well as how they are fought and what goes into rating a fire and whether or not fighting or monitoring is required.
Maria Hypponen, communications co-ordinator for the RDCK, was the MC. Speaking on behalf of the BC Wildfire Service Southeast Fire Center were Brent Martin, fire centre manager, and Ashley Davidoff, fire information officer, as well as Dan Levesque, wildfire technician and a former Nakusp firefighter who knows this area well having fought forest fires here in 2003, 2007, 2017 and back again for this year.
The three speakers were followed by a questions from the public period, where all 28 attendees were given the chance to ask whatever they wanted about the fires and the resources in place to fight them.
The presentation lasted approximately an hour. Included in the presentation was up-to-date information on the size and status of all Nakusp and areas forest fires and exactly what is being done at each one. Martin detailed the priority structure when looking at a new fire, using terms front country (threat to urban life and property) and back country ( No threat to people or dwelling). Priority rating on a fire can change daily, especially when a fire is burning 15 to 17 hectares everyday, much more then that in some cases.
Referencing the Aug. 11th lightning storm, Martin informed that in a matter of hours 63 new fires were reported and within the following 36-hour period, the total reached 97 new starts. Each fire requires action and need to be rated for the level of threat they are. The BC Wildfire Service often uses an initial attack crew, consisting of three highly trained fire fighters and the equipment they need. Due to the terrain surrounding this area, they quite often use a helicopter to rappel into the area, though access with trucks can be used where possible. It is the ideal that this IAC will have the fire contained within 24 hours.
As for actual resource numbers, there are approximately 1,800 personal working for BC Wildfire Service. This number is bolstered by contract personal numbering 2,858, for a total of over 4600. The number of aircraft being used this season is 265. As for the Southeast Fire Centre, there are 596 personal and 41 aircraft deployed, consisting of fire fighters from all over the world. BC declared a State of Emergency on Aug. 15 of this year and put the call out for assistance. The Maritimes, Mexico, New Zealand and more sent aid, including CL 415 waterbombers from Quebec.
Why is this year so bad? Levesque and Martin both spoke to the dryness of the the undergrowth. This is measured using a system called BUI, rating the depth of dryness in the organics that are layered on the forest floor. This year the rating in the SE fire region was constantly 200-plus and in many places over 300, a historically unseen level of dryness. This has created a depth of burn that, according to Martin, is the worst in the province. The big amount of snow the area saw over the winter was gone too fast as spring temperatures melted the snowpack. This contributed to the danger levels of dryness, a red flag for the BC Wildfire Service early on in the season.
