2018 is the worst fire season on record!

[Catsumi]

Shiny and loud, good grief, you were distracted!

Skunk is quiet, soft and agreeable. Normally.

Nothing wrong with your memory Driptorch. ...twas a year ago I brought up same subject where I was hooted down....you know...the boys in charge know what they're doing....so what if they sit around and play cards, they need breaks.....no, they don't fight fires, they're not trained....they direct traffic is all....on and on.

[gordon_as]

I hate to play armchair fireboss , but , would it still be the 3rd worst year if they had put out some of the smaller ones two or three weeks ago instead of choosing to let them burn ? Now they are big fires.

[Glacier]

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.

They are at least 50,000 hectares behind because the Tweedsmuir fires haven't been remapped in a week. This is the 3rd worst fire season on record already and could easily pass 1958.

This is my estimate for what it's really at today...

FB_IMG_1534628695891.jpg

[Drip_Torch]

They are at least 50,000 hectares behind because the Tweedsmuir fires haven't been remapped in a week. This is the 3rd worst fire season on record already and could easily pass 1958.This is my estimate for what it's really at today...

Yeah, I'm noticing the same thing. Coastal isn't really even attempting to map out the fires on the island and I'm not really surprised by that. By the time they've got the information processed and entered it's already significantly behind what's actually happening on the ground.

The super rough cut, 600+ fires, 3200+ sets of boots, - that's 6 folks per fire to make the decisions, supervise the work, fill out the reports, book the flights, fight the fires and do the dishes. I can see how they might be keeping themselves busy these days. I think it safe to say 2018 is well on its way to being the 2nd worst fire season on record.

And, we've still got at least a month to get there.

(2017 2.0 )

[JagXKR]

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

Second pic could be anywhere on the globe.

I believe that is Comox. Not too many places in BC with blue sky.

[Eyeswideopen]

It's the worst season for smoke. I don't remember it being anywhere close to this bad before. There were no clouds in the sky yesterday and it was like it was heavy fog all day. I have barely seen the sun the last 2 weeks. The last clear days were August long weekend. The smell of smoke in the air is quite strong. I went for a short walk yesterday and when I got back my clothes smelled like I had been sitting around a camp fire.

[Glacier]

I believe that is Comox. Not too many places in BC with blue sky.

Actually, 19 places in BC are sunny and 26 are smoky/hazy/cloudy/foggy/misty... https://weather.gc.ca/provincialsummary ... age=hourly

[Catsumi]

Anyone else out there amazed that there are only six people per fire, average?

Did I read and understand Driptorch's post correctly?

In future we really have to look at some kind of system where more help can be called out immediately so small fires don't turn into hellish conflagrations. Manpower (sorry, personpower) in the form of reservists with pre-training much needed.

[Eyeswideopen]

Anyone else out there amazed that there are only six people per fire, average?

Did I read and understand Driptorch's post correctly?

In future we really have to look at some kind of system where more help can be called out immediately so small fires don't turn into hellish conflagrations. Manpower (sorry, personpower) in the form of reservists with pre-training much needed.

What the gov't won't tell you is that it's an out of control situation right now. There is very little they can do with finite resources. My guess is they are prioritizing fires that are threatening communities. All others are probably being allowed to burn uncontrollably.

I can't remember the last time it rained. Cooler temperatures and rain are the only things that will resolve the situation.

[tsayta]

One of the big white web cams almost looks like blue sky

[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.

They are at least 50,000 hectares behind because the Tweedsmuir fires haven't been remapped in a week. This is the 3rd worst fire season on record already and could easily pass 1958.

This is my estimate for what it's really at today...

FB_IMG_1534628695891.jpg

Hey Glacier, do you happen to know the source of the 1920 to 2017 data? I spent some time with it yesterday and I can't find anything wrong with it, but it does come with some very surprisingly low numbers for some years. I checked the web and searched it sideways, but I can't find an original source to attribute the numbers to? I seem to recall lighthouse, lightworks, or something like that and I know CBC ground the data down in a couple articles last year, but the only attributable data I can find is the set from 1950 on.

As of late last night there appears to be 4500 ha on the North Island that’s being reported as a little over 466. I imagine that’s subject to change at any moment, so I’m not sure you want to add it into your estimate, - just saying yes, we’re very likely 3rd in the big data-set as well.

Hi Catsumi, yes, you did read it correctly, but keep in mind those numbers are changing all the time and there are a number of fires that simply don’t offer any opportunities to engage suppression resources and others that simply in the grand scheme of things don’t really need a lot of work and would be better left to run the course. I completely agree with you on the need for more resources, I been jumping up and down off the soapbox for years singing the same song.

Hi Eyeswideopen, I personally don’t see the situation as “out of control” right now. Yes, as of right now each fire center in the Province is managing the situation with approximately 30 fires listed as out of control, but every day I’m seeing new ones come on screen and they are being suppressed and actioned with success under some difficult circumstances.

Completely, hit the mark with the rest of the post - though.

[Drip_Torch]

… and oops, I said "more resources" that's not completely what I mean. We could have had 40 airtankers sitting in the Okanagan yesterday and it wouldn't have done a bit of good. I don't believe when you're doing something, and it's not giving you the outcomes you desire, it's simply a matter of doubling down and doing twice as much of the same thing.

There are, in my opinion, a number of new resources that could be brought on-line in different formats that wouldn't need to drastically effect the way we're doing things today, but would help to increase efficiencies and expand the available resource pool for the bad years. In my view, there's a world of opportunity that is simply waiting to be explored.

The problem with simply doubling down is what do we do with all this stuff, and people, when we have our next "1997", and only 2960 hectares catch fire in the whole Province?

Fire suppression - 100 years of innovation held back by 150 years of tradition.

[Catsumi]

Perhaps after this years misery is over, you, Glacier, et als might start a thread presenting us with your ideas for improvements? Presumably those ideas will be presented to agencies that can affect change.

Many of us realize the need for a better approach and are willing to help and support.

The astronomical costs associated with these fires offset against investment in controlled burns, equipment and firefighting is worth looking at.

I mentioned some of these "hidden" costs in thread "Fire watch...When are we going to learn?"

I wonder why it took so long for State of Emergency declaration by B.C. Why does it take so long for camp fire bans to be declared?

[Catsumi]

Anyone else out there amazed that there are only six people per fire, average?

Did I read and understand Driptorch's post correctly?

In future we really have to look at some kind of system where more help can be called out immediately so small fires don't turn into hellish conflagrations. Manpower (sorry, personpower) in the form of reservists with pre-training much needed.

What the gov't won't tell you is that it's an out of control situation right now. There is very little they can do with finite resources. My guess is they are prioritizing fires that are threatening communities. All others are probably being allowed to burn uncontrollably.
.

I would say you are correct in your assessment of it being an out of control situation in B.C. On CBC radio news this morning it was said that now the smoke is so thick that air firefighting is now pretty well impossible. Means that the fires probably will get ahead more, so more smoke, more misery. The wildlife loss is very hard to think about.

On a CTV clip online I found the most recent news of our army. Their duties are same as last year .... AFTER the fires are under control, the 200 personnel (are they all together or split up?) will come in to "mop up" which means putting out smallish fires still burning or smouldering in the blackened wasteland.

[bernie428]

I am not a forest fire expert by any means.
I probably know nothing about it.
However, as my cough gets worse, I know the fires are not good for me.
As the forest burns, my livelihood is at risk (working in the forestry industry).
My friends in tourism are suffering, and very worried. They should be, this will trickle down for years.

This will obviously effect a lot of people health wise, and not just the old and young.
That will cost us all in tax dollars, correct? For years to come I think.

So, this is, and has been a full scale emergency.
While I am not a forest fire fighting expert, we hire people to do just that.
We elected people to look after just that.
In the winter, they should have sat down, looked at what happened in 2017, and changed gears, come up with a new plan, something!!
In business, if the manager fails to correct loses, he/she gets canned. Repeat your mistakes, bye bye.

I hear the army isn't that useful because they aren't properly trained. TRAIN THEM!!
Isn't Canadian civilian disaster as important here as it is anywhere else?

It's a fail, anyway you look at it. The sun blotted out from the sky says so!