Tag: British Columbia

A judge has ruled that the British Columbia government and an aviation services company can face charges over a spill of helicopter fuel into a creek last year. On July 25, 2013 a truck carrying jet fuel for helicopters fighting a wildfire on Perry Ridge made a wrong turn onto an unmaintained forestry road that couldn’t support its weight. The truck overturned and rolled into Lemon Creek, spilling 33,000 liters of fuel into the watercourse, a tributary of the Slocan and Kootenay rivers. The spill caused the death of hundreds of fish, according to a 2013 report by SNC-Lavalin, produced for the company and the B.C. Environment Ministry.

After the ministry decided following a detailed investigation of the spill that the case was closed with no recommendation for charges, Slocan Valley resident Marilyn Burgoon pleaded with a judge to allow charges to be filed against the government and Executive Flight Centre Fuel Services, the operator of the truck. The company blamed the accident on the provincial government, alleging it received poor directions to the delivery point for the helicopter fuel.

At a hearing on November 27 Ms. Burgoon provided evidence alleging both parties shared responsibility for the fuel discharge.

​“This is a very important victory for democracy,” said Burgoon after the charge was approved.

“This provincial court decision means that government and industry are still accountable for their actions in a court of law. Even when government and industry drag their feet to avoid the investigation of environmental offences, justice can still prevail.”

Burgoon said the right of a private citizen to lay a charge is a fundamental part of Canada’s justice system.

“If government is not going to apply the laws of Canada, it is up to the people to do so,” she said.

A summons will now be issued and a court hearing date will be set in 2015.

The Infotel website in Kamloops, British Columbia has an interesting article about wildland firefighters, and why they keep returning to the job year after year.

Here how piece begins:

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – It can feel like warfare; heading into a fire, in the middle of nowhere for days on end at the mercy of Mother Nature. Yet something about being on the battle lines draws in wildland firefighters season after season.

For Jarvis Manuel, a 14-year veteran with B.C. Wildfire, it’s the people. For Thomas Martin, a four-year veteran, it’s the people. Jon Collavini, a 17-year veteran, you guessed it, it’s the people.

These three men all come from very different backgrounds yet the job is one they keep coming back to despite the uncertainty and danger. They take pride in what they do and will spend hours on end training. Some years they can spend as little as 10 per cent of their time on an actual wildfire, but not recently. This year, crews jumped from one fire to another throughout the summer…

The photos below are not fire pictures, but I took them in BC while on a motorcycle trip in 2012.

The British Columbia Ministry of Forests has announced that a hacker accessed their computer system and may have obtained personal data about 15,000 individuals who applied for wildland firefighting jobs. The agency is in the process of notifying those who may be affected.

The databases were accessed by an unauthorized user on Sept. 24, 2014. As soon as the breach was discovered, public website access to the databases was shut down. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations is conducting a thorough review of the incident in co-operation with the Office of the Chief Information Officer.

This incident may have resulted in some personal information being unlawfully accessed, including the name, gender, general contact information, date of birth, driver’s license number and job evaluation information of past wildfire crew firefighter job applicants. In some cases, information that applicants entered about their status as an Aboriginal, minority or disabled person may also have been viewed.

The government is notifying the individuals who are affected by this incident and could be at risk of harm as a result. People who require notification will be contacted by mail or other means.

In addition, the government is making credit protection services available at no cost to all of the individuals concerned. Persons who may be affected and who are being notified should call 1 844 456-2284 (toll-free from anywhere in Canada) for information about how to sign up for credit protection services.

Some of the database records are up to 10 years old and contacting all of the individuals in a timely manner may be difficult, so the Wildfire Management Branch is also reaching out to past job applicants through the media and its own social media channels.