We don’t usually put too much confidence in the containment percentages government personnel assign to wildfires, since sometimes it is extremely subjective and not always based on reality, but as the Little Bobtail Fire southwest of Prince George, British Columbia continues to grow, the containment percentage decreased today from 20 percent to 15 percent. The blaze has now blackened 25,000 hectares, or 62,000 acres.
Our main site for the Little Bobtail Lake Fire is HERE, with much more detail.
802 air tractors ready to fly out of @FlyYXS. Ready to bomb Little Bobtail Lake #wildfire. pic.twitter.com/Zmp7wQ6bNC
— Camille MacDonald (@camillereports) May 15, 2015
Click the picture to see a larger version.
It’s not the best composed photograph I’ve ever seen, but interesting nonetheless — six Air Tractor 802F Fire Bosses ready to attack the Little Bobtail Lake Fire 25 miles southwest of Prince George, British Columbia. That might be an Electra on the right, one of two working the fire..
More about the Little Bobtail Lake Fire at Wildfire Today.
An engine failure on Conair’s amphibious Air Tanker 699, an Air Tractor AT-802A, during training resulted in damage to a float upon landing. The incident occurred April 11, 2015 on Harrison Lake, BC, 33 nm NNE of Abbotsford.
Below is an excerpt from a Transportation Safety Board of Canada report:
…The aircraft was a 2-seat model conducting the fourth touch and go exercise. On the departure, the trainee was given a simulated engine failure at 700 feet above the surface. Following the emergency drill, the training pilot requested a go-around at 400 feet. When engine (PT6A-67F) power was commanded, flames were observed coming from the exhaust stacks and the engine was reduced to idle power and shut down. The emergency landing was carried out straight ahead but was hard and a bounce resulted in float damage. The FCU [fuel control unit] will be torn down for examination at the manufacturer’s facilities.
From CBCnews:
The province [of Ontario] is seeking compensation from Canadian National Railway over four forest fires in 2012, including $38 million for a massive fire near Timmins.
The province is alleging the fires were started by passing trains. The other three court actions involve another fires near Timmins, Chapleau and Thunder Bay. The damages sought in those cases are between $1 million and $2 million each.
The $38 million court action involves a fire called Timmins 9 in May of 2012.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry alleges the fire was started by the passage of a train through the area. The fire burned 40,000 hectares (98,000 acres) of bush and destroyed several camps.
The fire was the largest one in the province in half a century, and came within about 20 kilometers of the City of Timmins…
Documents filed in the case regarding the Timmins 9 Fire include the following:
14 The Ministry investigators also determined that the point of origin of the fire was within the railway right-of-way and approximately 2 1/2 metres from the western most rail at mileage 96.48.
16. At the point of origin, the investigators found a metal fragment whose particular characteristics indicated it had been heated and had been exposed to the elements for a short time.
17. Metal fragments are a competent source of ignition and may be released due to inter alia treading or wear or buildup from railway operations. This particular metal fragment, recently deposited, was a result of the railway operations of the defendant CNR.
The documents also accuse the railroad of failing to:
According to a summary of the 2014 wildfire season in Canada prepared by Environment Canada, the number of acres burned in the country was three times the 20-year average, due primarily to heavy fire activity in the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.
Here is how they summed it up:
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“While conditions were not favourable for wildfires in most areas of the country in 2014, it was still a huge wildfire year in Canada. According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, although the absolute number of wildland fires was 10 per cent less than the 20-year average, the area burned was three times higher than the 20-year national average (4.6 million hectares vs. the normal 1.5 million hectares). So even with parts of Canada being, at times, soaked by heavy rains or underwater from floods, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia made up for it all with exceptional warmth and dryness that brought sparks to infernos in no time flat.
In the Northwest Territories it started with a cold winter and scanty snows that left the ground and forest litter dry. With summer came clear skies and record warm temperatures that optimized already perfect conditions for fires to spread. The principal culprit was a stalled ridge of drying air anchored over the Mackenzie River valley for weeks. Temperatures from Tuktoyaktuk to Yellowknife averaged well above historic averages. The Mackenzie region averaged 1.6°C warmer than normal – the seventh warmest summer in 67 years. Yellowknife had 22 days in June and July at or above 25°C, compared to an average of eight, and only two days in June and three in July with rain. In a 91-day span, from the May long-weekend onwards, Yellowknife received only one-half its normal rainfall. As further evidence of the dryness, water levels in the Mackenzie River dropped to some of the lowest seen in more than 30 years.
So it was no surprise to anyone that the Northwest Territories had its worst fire season in 30 years with nearly 3.4 million hectares razed. That’s seven times the normal acreage consumed and six times the size of Prince Edward Island. At the peak of the fire season, smoke, ash and moisture from intense fires travelled as high as 15 km in the air, easily circling the globe. Some plumes travelled south and east affecting air quality in the northern plains of the United States, the Canadian Maritimes and even as far as Portugal. The fires caused a host of problems, including highway closures due to reduced visibility, the destruction of fibre optic cables and the interruption of Yellowknife’s main power supply line.
Health risks were also a concern as the city’s hospital treated twice the usual number of patients for respiratory and allergy issues. Smoke was so thick that, at times, it was hard to breathe indoors with the windows closed let alone venturing outside. Widespread forest fires also stranded visitors and adversely affected busy tourist camps and attractions. In August, firefighters and residents finally got a breather when cooler and wetter weather took hold. Temperatures dropped significantly and rainfall was 50 per cent more than normal for the month.
In British Columbia, an overheated wildfire season scorched the third-biggest loss of timber in the province since authorities began recording wildfire statistics more than 60 years ago. Fires burned more than 338,000 hectares through the province – seven and a half times the normal area charred on average over 20 years. No homes or notable structures were destroyed, but the province more than quadrupled its firefighting budget, spending $266 million.
Conditions for the wildfire season started in 2013 when places like Victoria experienced their driest October-to-December on record. Summer perfected conditions for igniting and spreading wildfires as average temperature across coastal and southern portions of the province made for the third-warmest summer over 67 years of record-keeping and one of the top ten driest summers. Record-high July maximum temperatures soared into the low 40s in several interior communities. Some places claimed it was the driest summer in more than half a century. Among the major fires were those that burned in vast dead pine forests killed by mountain pine beetles or on steep, inaccessible terrain, increasing risks and challenges to firefighters and communities.
Nearly 400 firefighters from Ontario, the Maritimes, Alaska and even Australia pitched in to help. The biggest and most difficult forest fire was near the Chelaslie River south of Burns Lake in northwestern British Columbia. It burned 133,162 hectares, accounting for more than 30 per cent of land burned in the province this year. Another big fire occurred in northern British Columbia near the Alberta border when a lightning strike whipped by strong winds caused 3,800 hectares to burn at Red Deer Creek. And a fire at Smith Creek, west of Kelowna, forced 2,500 people out of their homes. Over the course of the summer a series of smoke advisories and special air quality statements, issued by the province and Environment Canada respectively, were put in place for many regions, including the Okanagan Valley where residents of Peachland were urged to keep small children, the elderly and pets inside. On occasion, even Vancouver and the Fraser Valley were subject to air quality advisories as smoke plumes hung heavy over the skies.
Fortunately, timely rains and cool temperatures from September through October saved British Columbia from a second disastrous forest fire season and brought much-needed moisture to the somewhat water-starved province. Rainfall in Victoria and Vancouver totalled more than 40 per cent above normal, with Vancouver experiencing its wettest September-October in 10 years.”
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(To see a high resolution 3.8MB version of the above photo, click HERE.)
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 Red Deer County web site has an article about Air Spray — an air tanker company that has bases in Alberta at Red Deer and at Chico in northern California. Below is the beginning of the article.
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“Red Deer Airport – Alberta’s Air Spray Makes Its International Mark
The largest tenant at Red Deer Airport, Air Spray is making an international difference for its work in fire suppression across Canada and in the United States. Despite the importance of their role, however, its specialized nature means the company’s work – and its astounding growth – often pass unremarked on in the general community.
Since the mid-1970s, Air Spray has operated out of Red Deer Airport; its original business of fire suppression has evolved into specialized pilot training and developing new aircraft for fire suppression. These business lines ensure steady growth for the company throughout Canada and into the USA, but the Edmonton-based company runs all their aviation operations from their Red Deer Airport location.
“Air Spray is primarily a forest fire suppression company – during the fire season, we work throughout Alberta, BC, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon and California,” says Paul Lane, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Air Spray…”
A dog playing with matches started a fire in a Yukon Territory home last month. The Yukon Fire Marshal’s Office says a house fire in Mount Lorne was started by a dog chewing on a box of “strike anywhere” matches.
No humans or dogs were injured in the fire, which was put out by the other residents before the fire department arrived.
We’re adding this to our series of articles on Animal Arson.
Thanks and a tip of the hat go out to Doug.
A report commissioned by the British Columbia Forests Ministry suggests that with impending climate change, more emphasis should be placed on preparing structures and communities to co-exist with fire, rather than hoping to suppress every fire.
Below is an excerpt from an article in the Vancouver Sun. Unfortunately the author conflates the prevention of fires with fuel reduction and community preparedness.
As the planet heats up and the risk of “mega fires” rises, B.C. will no longer be able to lean on its world-class wildfire-fighting teams to keep people and property safe, according to a draft provincial document.
The Forests Ministry paper, called Climate Change Adaption Action Plan for Wildfire Management 2014-2024, suggests fire prevention should become the top priority of the province.
“It is not an option to continue to increase fire suppression response and associated costs, because even the most aggressive action would neither be safe nor effective for the extreme wildfire events such as those seen in Kelowna in 2003 and Slave Lake in 2010,” reads the draft, obtained through an access to information request.
“During these events, suppression response cannot be relied upon to protect communities or natural resource values. The only protection provided will be the protection established before the fire, provided through wildland-urban interface fuel reduction and landscape fire management…”
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.
