Hwy 97c fire

[canuck500]

The primary reason the helicopter is filling close to shore is to reduce the "circuit time" they are trying to get the most water on the fire in the shortest time possible. This is why the smaller aircraft can out perform the martin mars. They are faster and more manouverable. The Mars is great down near sea level but once it's in the mountains with higher temps it's performance suffers, not to mention the greater amount of room it needs to load an manouver.

[Jacl2]

Only one helicopter visibly working the fire today. Wonder where the bucket copter and skimmer planes are?

[Frisk]

Only one helicopter visibly working the fire today. Wonder where the bucket copter and skimmer planes are?

Probably waiting for the next deployment.There was pretty much no smoke visible today, I don't think they are needed right now.

[Always Sunny]

Really???? This is full on tourist season, the place across from Bliss rents out paddle boards and kayaks also i think. You rent a paddle board and stay reasonably close to shore and you are perfectly safe surely. Are you suggesting that paddle boarders were deliberately impeding a helicopter? Do they have any way to get out of the way quick when a helicopter suddenly swoops down close to the shore? The fact that it was a normal busy mid summers day in Peachland there is no way you could reasonably expect people to stop ALL water activities. You could however expect boaters and jet skiers to stay clear as they are able to move quickly to a safe distance.

Sorry.

Forgot "tourist season" outranks potential disaster.

Helicopters don't "swoop" as a skimmer would. Much more of a hover with enough movement to fill a bambi bucket. If it was enough of an issue that the OP mentioned the helicopters being too close to paddle boarders (or visa versa) then it obviously wasn't a learning experience to move out of the way.

[Greenthumbs]

suspected to be human caused lets post facts not speculation human caused leaves a lot of doors open and no im not a smoker

Regarding the cause, I gathered the info from a CHBC news clip. The spokesperson for the provincial fire authority reported the fire as being caused by a cigarette.

[Bretbaby]

^^^Article says ... Fire chief Wayne Williams said there were unconfirmed reports the fire was human caused.

Give me a break. Unconfirmed because the fire chief didn't see it himself.

[dodgerdodge]

Sorry.

Forgot "tourist season" outranks potential disaster.

Helicopters don't "swoop" as a skimmer would. Much more of a hover with enough movement to fill a bambi bucket. If it was enough of an issue that the OP mentioned the helicopters being too close to paddle boarders (or visa versa) then it obviously wasn't a learning experience to move out of the way.

Well my thoughts are simply based on a "safe working area" for all concerned. If the Helicopters are filling from the lake there is always a certain risk that something could go wrong. To empty the entire beach area and water for the whole day and every day they are flying might be overkill yet if a helicopter came down that close to shore it could be catastrophic. Whereas flying out a few hundred meters farther may be a safer option all round but i understand the time factor for each run would be increased.

[Countrycabin]

Last updated: Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 9:00 AM

Status: Active
• 100% guarded
• 75% contained
Crews will work today to extinguish hot spots.

Interface: Interface Interface Fire

Evacuation Order is in effect.

The Evacuation Order has been changed to an Evacuation Alert for the one home on the 4700 block of MacKinnon Road in West Kelowna due to the Drought Hill forest fire. No further orders of alerts are anticipated at this time.
This order will be reevaluated later today.

Cause: Under Investigation
This fire is suspected to be person-caused, but the specific cause is under investigation.

Resources
• 40 firefighters
• 1 helicopters
• 2 heavy equipment
40 Wildfire Management Branch personnel will be on-site today with the assistance of one helicopter.
-------------------
All I will add is YA-HHOO ...they gave it 'ell and they are winning!
A big
THANK YOU to ALL FIREFIGHTERS, NO MATTER WHERE!

[TreeGuy]

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#120708

"It was almost like he was playing with people under him. It was pretty cool."

I don't get how this person thought this was, "pretty cool". Seems pretty dangerous to me!

"gave me thumbs up from his bubble on the side of his chopper, then flew away."

Are you sure it was a thumb and not a finger?

To create a safety zone maybe there should be an area roped off using floats to create a space for the choppers to pick up h2o.

[eyepop]

wrong thread.

[meadbh]

100% guarded, 100% contained.

http://bcwildfire.ca/hprScripts/Wildfir ... asp?ID=514

Well done!

[Darlin06]

Good to hear!!!

Thankful to ALL the firefighters, pilots, etc. and I know the Aussies have arrived, so thankful to them too!!! It's been a little crazy hearing the planes over the house for a few days but glad things are under control!!! Good job boys and girls!!!!

[Bretbaby]

Seems to me that blaming smokers for most of these human caused wild fires is wrong. Most are not from smokers flicking out their butts. Most are from campers and ATV activity. The huge Glenrosa fire was caused by kids riding ATV's and the exhaust pipes started a grass fire that quickly turned into a major fire. The one earlier this summer above Glenrosa was an unattended campfire. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to the wildfires during the last 5 years in the okanagan caused by carelessly disgarded butts.

http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... htm#120797