2018 is the worst fire season on record!

[Glacier]

Updated on the 29th...

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[Drip_Torch]

Interesting, but you seem to have picked a topic title that's likely already a misnomer. I'm guessing 4th with the backlog on mapping that I see.

[Glacier]

Interesting, but you seem to have picked a topic title that's likely already a misnomer. I'm guessing 4th with the backlog on mapping that I see.

Yup, I'm going to change the title as things change. This has been BY FAR the worst fire season on record in the Coastal Fire Centre. Oh, and Fort St. James with its 125 year old buildings is in danger of going up in flames. Sprinklers are set up...

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[Drip_Torch]

This has been BY FAR the worst fire season on record in the Coastal Fire Centre.

Really quite something. For 80 years the Bloedel Fire (Sayward fire), at 30 something thousand hectares, has been the benchmark in unimaginable fires for the Coast. … and then there's this. Well over 64,181 ha to date. Is this what a 1 in 250 year occurrence looks like?

[Catsumi]

Who the hell can see past the smoke screen to get a looky-see?

[Glacier]

Really quite something. For 80 years the Bloedel Fire (Sayward fire), at 30 something thousand hectares, has been the benchmark in unimaginable fires for the Coast. … and then there's this. Well over 64,181 ha to date. Is this what a 1 in 250 year occurrence looks like?

Those Tweedsmuir fires are really interior fires though. I've been hiking there. It's not coastal at all, but it is in the coastal fire zone.

[Drip_Torch]

Really quite something. For 80 years the Bloedel Fire (Sayward fire), at 30 something thousand hectares, has been the benchmark in unimaginable fires for the Coast. … and then there's this. Well over 64,181 ha to date. Is this what a 1 in 250 year occurrence looks like?

Those Tweedsmuir fires are really interior fires though. I've been hiking there. It's not coastal at all, but it is in the coastal fire zone.

I agree with you on that point, but with a view of all the fire on the ground in the Coastal area, of the Coastal Fire Center Region, it's still quite a year. Silver Skagit isn't going to be easy, spuzzum, Anderson...etc, and there's what (unofficially, but somewhat educated guess) about 3200 ha burning on the North Island within a 35 km arc of Woss. When the air starts moving it could get interesting.

[Glacier]

My friends who fight fire with helicopter to have been grounded because of all the smoke. They took this picture on the way to work yesterday...

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[Drip_Torch]

4 th worst on record since 1920. (and still 3rd worse since 1950.)

577,333 ha and climbing.

Every fire center in the Province currently has 30 something fires listed as out of control - except Cariboo which currently, only has 28, but is dealing with a few that have burned into their region from the other fire centers.

[Catsumi]

Driptorch, we were expecting federal help momentarily a week ago. Any idea if they arrived, and where, and what they are doing?

News is silent.

[Drip_Torch]

I think it more a matter of there is too much news to be covered and a bit of lag between when the information is compiled and then disseminated. Despite all the challenges, all the moving parts, things are moving along.

Some good news for residents concerned about the Gottfriedsen wildfire in the Pennask area, near the Okanagan Connector. A large portion of troops from the Canadian Armed Forces brought in to assist with wildfires in B.C. have been dispatched to the fire. About 200 troops have been deployed to the province, with another 100 on stand-by in Edmonton.

https://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelo ... ttfriedsen

And Doh... I saw military you wrote monetary. Nope, don’t know anything about that, but typically, federal disaster assistance comes in the form of big media announcement regarding the commitment and then a whole bunch of behind the scenes haggling about the cheque. Usually, paying the bills is a logistical/management challenge, far more than it ever is about making a deposit into the Provinces bank account.

[Catsumi]

Hey, thanks. If possible, and it's not an imposition on your time, could you let us know when they actually arrive?

They've been dispatched, but may be still en route. And so many....what....200...100 ?


Standing by, in Edmonton? West, young men, come WEST !!!

[Drip_Torch]

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I understand they're here and operational, was watching tweets regarding their travel across BC a couple days ago. I see this pic says Smithers, but that doesn't look like Smithers to me, and well you know, sometimes things get lost in translation with the Feds. That looks like Kelowna to me.

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From 5 hours ago...

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[Catsumi]

I agree, the pic of them in pow wow conference could be near Kamloops area?

Second pic could be anywhere on the globe.

I may be jumping the gun here, but I think it's going to be the same clusterduck as last year. Emergency declared late in the day, Federal help drags *bleep* in very very late, directs traffic.....big billing to B.C. From Feds for all the help.

When Quebec /Ontario is in trouble (flooding, icestorms, huge snowfalls, fires, etc) we see endless news stories highlighting the army helping residents. (Filling and stacking sandbags, cutting iced branches, boat rescues during floods, etc). We are on the wrong side of the blanket in this federation.

How I wish we had reservists. No delay, call up, bang, there they are on your doorstep "what can we do to help, ma'am"?

[Drip_Torch]

I put in a third pic - BC plates on the vehicles. They are here, I've watched public tweets about the travels for a couple days now.

I don't believe we get billed for the military support, I understand it becomes part of the overall number in the final tally of the Federal Disaster Assistance contribution to BC.

When it's all said and done there's a statement Fed's relief to BC was X - Y = $

X being the number trumpeted to the public.
Y being the in kind cost of the military support.
$ being the cheque the province puts in the bank.

I actually saw you post something along those lines once before and did a little searching to see if I could find some clarification, but I came up blank - (or something shiny and loud distracted me.)