Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

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GordonH
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by GordonH »

tsayta wrote:Actually those owners are not allowed to touch that area due to the legal do not disturb covenant


Developers need to rethink some of the covenants, home buyers should be able to request fire prevention products for exterior of there homes. i.e instead of asphalt roofing.... metal options or clay (I know expensive), as well siding options

If nothing else it will slow the ability of wild fire from burning down the home, so firefighter have better chance of saving the houses.
Homeowners can also improve there chances by removing combustible item from around their homes, i.e. pine needles etc... etc

Added: Maybe don't need to go to the extreme i.e. the house on Lodge Rd in Winfield (those who live out there know the one I'm talking about)
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Treblehook
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Treblehook »

Perhaps I missed it, but there is another factor contributing to the number of interface fires IMHO. Larger populations and the desire to live on the edge of the wilderness are certainly at play, but we have laws in place that control/prohibit campfires at certain times; laws that deal with open burning; and, laws that prohibit the discard of smoking materials from vehicles, but some people still insist on doing all of these things. Most would agree that many of the offenders who cause these fires through carelessness or negligence are of the same ilk as the people who dump their garbage in wilderness area, because it is convenient for them to do so. They are void of common sense, common courtesy and have no respect for others or their property, etc. The amount of money spent fighting these fires and the trauma suffered by people who lose their homes ought to dictate that no stone be left unturned in determining who is responsible for starting fires. At the same time criminal charges should be laid and heavy penalties assessed against those who are found guilty. Enough is enough!!! An example would be the fire that occurred off Westside road a month or so ago, where there was a tent and vacant campsite with a smoldering campfire next the place where the fire started. Perhaps the investigation couldn't establish that the unattended campfire [actually] started the forest fire, but we have heard nothing about the people associated with that campsite being prosecuted for leaving an unattended campfire???? They should be prosecuted and their identities made public for the deterrence value.
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OldIslander
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by OldIslander »

UhHuhYeahSure wrote:3. Forests have not been allowed to burn in BC for the past +50 years. The government has made an empire out of fighting WILDfires, replacing the harvesting industry that has slowly dried up. There is more fuel in the bush than ever before. Good luck in trying to stop a fire once it takes hold. And if it's near a town and a house or trailer is lost, then it becomes an "interface fire".

Good post.

Your point about fire suppression is not just a BC problem – it is a North American problem. Every area of NA has a natural fire cycle – that is, how often an area traditionally and naturally burned, before we came along with our ground crews, bulldozers, and water bombers. If that natural cycle is exceeded due to fire suppression, then when a fire finally does occur, it will burn hotter in the accumulated fuels, tending to kill trees that should have survived, and burning deeper into the duff, doing more damage to the soils in which the forest must regenerate.

Florida is a good example. They purposely burn two million plus acres per year with prescribed fire. Then when they have wildfires, if they occur in pre-burned areas, they are manageable, with little or no loss of structures or life. In unburned areas, all bets are off.

In the US, they evaluate each fire. If it is remote, with no communities or other valuable resources in its path, they may elect to let it burn. In our remote Northwest Territories, they often simply monitor fires, and let them burn. Fires usually don’t turn monstrous there, because they’ll likely eventually run into an area that has burned in previous years.

But our forestry folks can’t do that now. There are people everywhere in BC, and almost any fire is going to burn someone’s property or timber license. After the 1995 Garnet Fire in Penticton, fire managers were accused of initially ‘letting the fire burn’, which proved to be untrue. No fire manager wants to risk criminal charges, for damages due to this decision.

With climate change and continued suppression, devastating fire activity will likely continue to grow worse in the upcoming decades.
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by hobbyguy »

This article, in a different context examines the whole issue: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130827-wildfires-yosemite-fire-firefighters-vegetation-hotshots-california-drought/

Notably:

"As fuels increase and temperatures rise, the number of people moving to areas that border wildlands—a location called a WUI, short for wildland-urban interface—also continues to increase. The number of housing units within half a mile of a national forest, for instance, grew from 484,000 in 1940 to 1.8 million in 2000."
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Queen K
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Queen K »

Just driving on Chute Lake Road today I saw so much "ladder" material along the side of the road it wasn't funny.

A few sparks and ...
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Because_They_Lie
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Because_They_Lie »

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tsayta
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by tsayta »

So another filmon report which won't be actioned. Fitting that it comes from providence Rhode Island
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OldBlindDog
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by OldBlindDog »

More park closures, near interface areas:

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#202104

Should just stay out of the woods until a bunch of rain falls.
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Because_They_Lie »

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GordonH
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by GordonH »

Any homeowners out there with cedar shingle roof in or near potential interface fire area's (as was today in Penticton).
Replace that roofing with metal look alike shingles or something not flammable (also don't use asphalt either)

Cedar shingles is to a interface fire like newspaper is to a campfire. Poof house is gone
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bob vernon
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by bob vernon »

Many people want to live beside a creek or river and then complain when they get flooded out. And all of our insurance rates go up to pay for it.

Many people want to live in a forest with nice big trees close to their house. And then wonder what went wrong when the forest burns down and takes their house with it. These same folks will demand that the conservation officer shoot the bear or cougar that comes near their place in the forest. Insurance rates? Ditto.
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by youjustcomplain »

bob vernon wrote:Many people want to live beside a creek or river and then complain when they get flooded out. And all of our insurance rates go up to pay for it.

Many people want to live in a forest with nice big trees close to their house. And then wonder what went wrong when the forest burns down and takes their house with it. These same folks will demand that the conservation officer shoot the bear or cougar that comes near their place in the forest. Insurance rates? Ditto.



Well, my understanding of how insurance works is very different from yours.
If you buy a house along the side of a river that floods, one of two things happens. You don't have overland water insurance so you are not covered which doesn't affect my insurance premiums. OR, you do have overland water insurance, and make a claim. Everyone with overland water insurance will see a rate increase to cover your costs. Of course, if it's not a busy flood year, then premiums may remain the same.

House insurance does include fire insurance so it's a bit of a different story. If you build your house in the woods and it burns down in a fire, yes, my premiums would be affected as I will have the same residential home insurance policy that you do.

I don't think people living in the woods would wonder what went wrong when their house goes up in a forest fire. Who would find it surprising? nobody. And most people, I know, who live near wild life do not want any harm to come by the animals. Many that I've spoken to will not call conservation when a bear or cougar come onto their property out of fear that the the CO might destroy the animal. There are reasons why people chose to live in the woods, seclusion from idiots is one, but being closer to nature (animals included), is why they're there.
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Drip_Torch »

youjustcomplain wrote:House insurance does include fire insurance so it's a bit of a different story. If you build your house in the woods and it burns down in a fire, yes, my premiums would be affected as I will have the same residential home insurance policy that you do.


I understand it to be a little bit different than that. Perhaps you've heard of the fire underwriters survey? They grade your property on behalf of your insurance provider, based on your proximity to a fire hydrant and the response time of your fire department. That's how your insurance company arrives at the premium you pay.

Ever notice after a large loss WUI incident we don't hear a peep from the fire underwriters survey? Instead we hear from the institute for catastrophic loss.

My understanding is your insurance provider is insured through a reinsurer for wildfire losses and the institute for catastrophic loss represent those reinsurers. At the end of the day, I'm pretty sure the buck stops somewhere near here, but I do know that it's not your insurance company that's taking the loss during a bad fire season.
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Queen K
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Re: Why So Many Interface Fires Lately?

Post by Queen K »

So I'm driving around the Saucier/Bedford/Dehart/Speirs road a lot lately and I've noticed ALOT of fire fuel: dead brush, grass and weeds just sitting inches from the edges of the road. Of special note is the Fish and Game Club area where one spark in tht grass will just ladder up and engulf the entire area, including the building. Now I'm taking it that that members of the club should be pro-active right? Get a posse out there and start cutting and raking it in before fire takes down the building, which I"m sure is full of memorbilia, badges, stuffed dead animals, records and who knows what else.

Would it not make sense to get the club out to protect the site from fire fuel?

Does anyone know anyone in the club to suggest it? Anyone here? :135:
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