Critical of Fire Response

[kiabird]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/34 ... e-response

Mr. Benwell stated what many people suspected.

[tsayta]

Ummmmm. I think they have done a fantastic job this year. They've been prioritizing. There's been alot going on. Easy for you to say "oh they should have just put it out"

[GordonH]

Knowing crews are coming in from other countries, I strongly suspect BC Fire crews are stretched to Max.
https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/34 ... nse#341603

They are doing their best with what they have.

[kiabird]

Anybody who actually reads the story would learn that he is critical of the bureaucracy, not the firefighters on the front lines, who are doing a fabulous job.

[bob vernon]

There's nothing wrong with the front line fire fighters. And there's nothing wrong with the management, either. We've just overpopulated the Earth and are bumping up against the ability of the planet to support all of us in the way we've become accustomed. Just how many resources does Buddy think we should have to deal with these fires? Ya wanna live in your castle in the forest, you'll have to accept the risk.

We will either reduce our stress on the planet or the planet will do it for us with things like pandemics and natural disasters like massive forest fires. We are altering the atmosphere and unfortunately there is no will to change the way we live. We all want to continue to have 6,000 pound pickup trucks, RVs, 4,000 square foot houses, vacations to someplace warm every winter, and have somebody earning poverty wages serve our every nee. Time is up.

[tsayta]

Yup. I also think management did a great job deploying, strategizing, triaging, deciding where to go and when, managing supply lines, communicating, keeping folks safe, providing leadership to the boots on the ground etc

[tsayta]

I'm sure Ben is excellent at wood lots

[rookie314]

Google Yellowstone Fires 1988 and see how his type of thinking works.

[coffeeFreak]

Armchair critiquing from "a former firefighter", like that makes him an expert on forest fires and in particular on this year's conditions...right.

Come on Castanet reporter Victoria Freema, dig a little deeper for something that actually backs up your headline.

[Drip_Torch]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Vernon/34 ... e-response

Mr. Benwell stated what many people suspected.

Yep. I'll take the opinion of a forester with 25 years service over the Castanet court any day. Much of what he says echoes the Filmon review and Abbott/Chapman report.

"Google the Yellowstone fires..." lol. Take a look at a few satellite photos and tell me where this overstocked, over-mature forest is burning.

"I think management did a great job of..." Yep, 100% they did! These conditions suck and will likely get worse over time. The criticism I see in the article is aimed at the system and it is long standing. Things changed dramatically in the mid 1990's and it's taken some time to come back around. Overall, I would say the BCWS is doing a far better job of interfacing with community, resources and stakeholders than they were just 10 years ago, but there's still way more work to be done. See Filmon, Abbott/Chapman.

Bob Vernon wins the prize. , but we're still going to need to learn how to cope with this ride we're on. This isn't it. There's more work to be done, there's always going to be more work to be done.

The society we live in, and the systems we've developed, are still a little shy of "perfect and beyond criticism".



https://www.revelstokereview.com/life/g ... t-service/

[youhavegottobekidding]

I think poor old Bob Vernon is kind of jealous with what some people have worked hard to achieve. IF people want a 4000 sq ft house what is it to him? Poor guy, I feel bad that he thinks it is all about what we as a people have done to the planet.....And Trudeau thinks the same way, IF only he can raise that CARBON TAX EVEN HIGHER EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE......well that Carbon Tax does not help at all BTW.......you can dump all the $$$ you want into the HOAX of a climate crisis but it won't help

[Babba_not_Gump]

Back in the 70s the MOF had initial attack crews stationed around the province.

I was on a crew in Parksville one summer. There were two crews there and I believe about five guys on each crew.
Our roll was to put a fire out within 24 hours. If we couldn't, we would be pulled out to wait for another fire, and a different crew would be put on the fire.
We had about fifty fires that summer and put out every one.
When not fighting fires we did waste assessment, boundary layouts, cruising, etc.
The year before Parksville I was on a crew in Terrace.

I'm not sure if the MOF still has such crews, and if not when they were eliminated, but they did prove a valuable service at the time.

[nucksRnum1]

Someone may not have grasped the concept of logistics or how difficult it can be to move bodies that are all out on the front lines of 250 other fires......

[Buckeye19]

Just more complaining from a guy who is quite removed from the inner workings and is likely bitter about not getting as much work as he thinks he should have over the years. This story has been told a thousand times before.

Says in the article he was a "contract firefighter". Most on here see that and think he is a type 1 provincial resource in a red shirt like they see everywhere. Not to knock him in any way but it is worth pointing out that there is a major difference between BCWS crews and type 2 contract or warden crews.

The average person also thinks that if there isn't a big aviation presence with air tankers and helicopters that no one is responding. Almost always not the case.

Bottom line is that fires get triaged and the general public doesn't have a strong understanding how that works. When it's close to home, people think the world should stop and every resource in the province should respond to their crisis. It just isn't feasible and be thankful you aren't the one who has to make these decisions. They aren't taken lightly.

[nucksRnum1]

Just more complaining from a guy who is quite removed from the inner workings and is likely bitter about not getting as much work as he thinks he should have over the years. This story has been told a thousand times before.

Says in the article he was a "contract firefighter". Most on here see that and think he is a type 1 provincial resource in a red shirt like they see everywhere. Not to knock him in any way but it is worth pointing out that there is a major difference between BCWS crews and type 2 contract or warden crews.

The average person also thinks that if there isn't a big aviation presence with air tankers and helicopters that no one is responding. Almost always not the case.

Bottom line is that fires get triaged and the general public doesn't have a strong understanding how that works. When it's close to home, people think the world should stop and every resource in the province should respond to their crisis. It just isn't feasible and be thankful you aren't the one who has to make these decisions. They aren't taken lightly.

Totally agree. Great response.