Hwy 97c fire

[Lazarus]

To add to this whilst i agree about idiotic boaters the helicopters seemed dangerously close to people this afternoon. We watched from the beach in Peachland and the bucket copter was filling up close to shore and not far from paddle boarders and kayaks who were going about their business not too far from shore as you would expect. Why not fill up farther out?

I would suspect it has something to do with minimizing fuel usage to maximize operational time. A helicopter uses a lot of fuel even when it's not loaded down with hundreds of gallons of water and every meter farther they have to fly reduces their time between fill ups and consequently the number of drops they can get in before refuelling. During the recent Smith Creek fire they were even filling out of Shannon Lake rather than flying all the way down to the big lake for better efficiency. As for the people paddling around where the helicopter was trying to fill up, IMO they were being almost as bad as the boaters. Let the firefighters do their job and get out of the way!

[Always Sunny]

To add to this whilst i agree about idiotic boaters the helicopters seemed dangerously close to people this afternoon. We watched from the beach in Peachland and the bucket copter was filling up close to shore and not far from paddle boarders and kayaks who were going about their business not too far from shore as you would expect. Why not fill up farther out?

Or...or...the people were dangerously close to the helicopters.

Why begin to make excuses when people on the water obviously knew there was a very active forest fire in the immediate area? Maybe take the board/kayak out of the water for a single freakin' day while these people are trying to do their jobs. Major inconvenience for their own safety I suppose.

Might not seem like it, but going to then middle of the lake can mean another 1/2km-1km further with a fully loaded bucket. That significant in the fire game. Time and fuel-wise.

[dodgerdodge]

Why begin to make excuses when people on the water obviously knew there was a very active forest fire in the immediate area? Maybe take the board/kayak out of the water for a single freakin' day while these people are trying to do their jobs. Major inconvenience for their own safety I suppose.

Might not seem like it, but going to then middle of the lake can mean another 1/2km-1km further with a fully loaded bucket. That significant in the fire game. Time and fuel-wise.

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.

[matai]

As a kayakist or paddleboarder, for my personal safety, I certainly wouldn't want to go 1-2km away from the shore in the middle of drunk & speeding boaters tourist season.

[REDNECK 99]

First the aircrews provide great support , the news reports said AIRCRAFT not just helicopters when asking boaters to stay out of the area Those planes are huge but once again the narrow minds dont see tbe big picture .

[Greenthumbs]

It has been confirmed that a cigarette butt was the cause of the fire.
Who doesn't understand that a cigarette butt is a fire source?
I would like to see officials deem butting out anywhere outside illegal and making or taking a sterner stance on
fire starters.
Come on folks what does it take to get the message across, we live in a semi arid environment, stop screwing around with mother nature! Geez!

[wanderer]

Those of us who live in this area, especially who have been impacted by forest fires are well educated. I think there should be more information about cigarettes targeted to TOURISTS. Public Service announcements on radio, posters at tourist booths, and touristy hang outs. Have seen people pour out of the tourist buss and immediately light up a ciggy. Have also seen ppl in vehicles with out of prov. plates flick their ciggs out a window, THEY should still know better. With restrictions on where ppl can smoke many are using their vehicle as a smoke pit, not making an excuse just an observation. The tourists may not understand about this as much as those of us who have been affected by the fires since 2003.

[0mni]

I think because it's tabo to smoke in your nice car, you definitly don't want a butt in the ash tray, so out the window it goes.

[Jacl2]

I have seen people watching the fires and the amazing efforts of the fighters, smoking and butting out on the ground. People are ignorant. I thought smoking was banned in public parks, yet the idiots are still doing it.

[LTD]

where does it say that it was confirmed to have been started by a cigarette butt seems to far off the road for that

[oneh2obabe]

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

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

[LTD]

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

[kelscher]

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.

[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/news/Penticton/ ... ens-houses

And I haven't even started to look yet to post for you.

[oneh2obabe]

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