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State of Emergency - BC
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Another summer, more fires. Homes destroyed, people evacuated. Hopefully all my fellow BC ST'ers are all safe.

I should know within a day or two if I will be getting sent to one of the fires to help out, since so far there are no fires of concern around me.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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skinny wrote:
Another summer, more fires. Homes destroyed, people evacuated. Hopefully all my fellow BC ST'ers are all safe.

I should know within a day or two if I will be getting sent to one of the fires to help out, since so far there are no fires of concern around me.


It's really a shame to learn of this trouble in BC, one of the most beautiful parts of a beautiful country. Please stay as safe as you can.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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big kahuna wrote:
skinny wrote:
Another summer, more fires. Homes destroyed, people evacuated. Hopefully all my fellow BC ST'ers are all safe.

I should know within a day or two if I will be getting sent to one of the fires to help out, since so far there are no fires of concern around me.



It's really a shame to learn of this trouble in BC, one of the most beautiful parts of a beautiful country. Please stay as safe as you can.

Its a shame, but not surprising. It is pretty much an annual thing, we know we will have fires, usually some really big ones, the only question is where.

Fourteen years ago is the last time they declared a province-wide state of emergency for fires, and most of those were in the south / southeast where I am living. The town I was living in at the time was on an evacuation alert for about a week.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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My moms cousin lives out there. Says she can smell the smoke. About two hours drive from one of the fires.

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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Good friends of ours were evacuated from 100 Mike house the other day. That fire is something like 12 square kilometers. That's freaking huge.

Apparently it rained there today, despite a forecast of heat, sun, and wind for days. Hopefully they can turn the corner on what is a completely uncontrolled, massive fire.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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I'd like to visit my cousin in BC in the summer one day. I think I will have to wait until she retires from her firefighting logistics job.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [len] [ In reply to ]
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Come before July and you should be safe.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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skinny wrote:
big kahuna wrote:
skinny wrote:
Another summer, more fires. Homes destroyed, people evacuated. Hopefully all my fellow BC ST'ers are all safe.

I should know within a day or two if I will be getting sent to one of the fires to help out, since so far there are no fires of concern around me.



It's really a shame to learn of this trouble in BC, one of the most beautiful parts of a beautiful country. Please stay as safe as you can.


Its a shame, but not surprising. It is pretty much an annual thing, we know we will have fires, usually some really big ones, the only question is where.

Fourteen years ago is the last time they declared a province-wide state of emergency for fires, and most of those were in the south / southeast where I am living. The town I was living in at the time was on an evacuation alert for about a week.

Are you talking about the big fires around Peticton in August 2003? I did the Ironman that year, we all thought it will be cancelled.


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Re: State of Emergency - BC [softrun] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, the 2003 fires. From what I remember, most of the fires that year were from Kamloops south (Barriere, Falkland, Revelstoke, Cranbrook, etc). Most of the current fires are north of Kamloops (100 Mile House, Williams Lake area). It was pretty hard to breathe for a good part of that summer. The scary thing is that we didn't hit the extreme fire conditions until mid-August that year, this year we are already at the same conditions in early July and likely have more than two months of this to survive.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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I flew down to Vancouver from Fort McMurray last Thursday and saw what I believe was the Cache Creek fire from the plane. It was very large at that point. I met an old friend from 100 Mile House in Vancouver who had left his home to go to Vancouver on business. Things aren't good up there. I flew back to Fort McMurray this morning and we were over smoke all the way home.
BC needs rain.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [jimmy d] [ In reply to ]
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jimmy d wrote:
I flew down to Vancouver from Fort McMurray last Thursday and saw what I believe was the Cache Creek fire from the plane. It was very large at that point. I met an old friend from 100 Mile House in Vancouver who had left his home to go to Vancouver on business. Things aren't good up there. I flew back to Fort McMurray this morning and we were over smoke all the way home.
BC needs rain.

We are getting a bit of rain right now. Unfortunately it is accompanied by tons of lightning. Watching it out my window, looking past the fire truck parked in my driveway. Could easily be 100 new fire starts overnight. I sure hope not though.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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Yes, 2003 was the year of the big Okanagan Mountain Park Fire. Many people lost their homes. I remember people thinking that the Ironman should be cancelled. Lots of discussion about it on forums. Some people thought cancelling the race just because a few mostly affluent people lost their homes would be foolish.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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I hope any and all evacuees get what they need. A few truckloads of items have left here for BC, and I'm in the process of finding out where financial resources can best be directed. Every situation is different, but I think I can relate to what some of the people are going through currently. I hope you get some rain and no lightning strikes.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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We had smoke this norning. Seems to have cleared a bit

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [jimmy d] [ In reply to ]
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jimmy d wrote:
I hope any and all evacuees get what they need. A few truckloads of items have left here for BC, and I'm in the process of finding out where financial resources can best be directed. Every situation is different, but I think I can relate to what some of the people are going through currently. I hope you get some rain and no lightning strikes.

I know last year with Fort McMurray, they were requesting that everyone donate financial resources through the Red Cross. That way it all gets coordinated and spent on what is most urgently needed at the time. There tend to be scams that pop up around situations like this where people claim to be collecting to take to the communities that need it, and then they disappear with all the money.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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My wife went downtown today and one of the many items requested was gas cards, so she donated those. We also donated to the Red Cross effort for BC as well. The Red Cross did a phenomenal job here for a couple of months after people returned to the city.
I read earlier today that scammers are already out in the Cariboo region posing as fire marshals. A good friend lives on a lake outside of 100 Mile and there reports of looters there.
Last edited by: jimmy d: Jul 12, 17 19:34
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [realAB] [ In reply to ]
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realAB wrote:
We had smoke this norning. Seems to have cleared a bit

We have had very little smoke here, I thought we would have more by now. Only a tiny bit of haze, but enough that we are getting some awesome sunsets. Looking at firesmoke.ca, it looks like most of it is going straight east, not south much.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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Now Williams Lake and area (about 20,000 people) are under evacuation order. And a grass fire has started north of Kelowna, being pushed by 45 mph winds.

In the past two weeks, I have spent more time in a fire truck than in my own car. As a volunteer, I am spending an average of 4-5 hours every day sourcing additional equipment, prepping trucks for possible deployment across the province, and providing additional training to the other firefighters in my area. I need a raise...

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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A friend is in Williams Lake, and I haven't heard from him in a couple of days, but he was ready to go if the evacuation order came.

The fire north of K-town is in Lake Country. I'm not sure if that started as a residential fire and has since grown. Damn.

Trucks are still humping supplies down to BC from here, and they'll keep coming as long as there is a need. Fort McMurray is here to help.

Stay safe out there, Skinny.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [jimmy d] [ In reply to ]
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I spent 8 hours today teaching a wildland firefighting course to other firefighters in my area, and then spent another 5 or so near the top of a mountain putting out a pickup truck fire that spread into the trees. It looks like some huckleberry pickers parked their nearly new truck in some long grass that then lit due to the heat from the exhaust. Truck is destroyed, nothing left. I got to drag a firehose up a cliff, play with a chainsaw, and watch a helicopter drop some water.

Just another relaxing summer weekend in BC...

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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We had a disastrous fire here in 2003.
"The Cedar Fire was a wildfire which burned over 280,000 acres (1,133 km2) of land in San Diego County, California during October and November 2003.[2] The fire's rapid growth was driven by the Santa Ana winds, causing the fire to spread at a rate of 3,600 acres (15 km2) per hour.[1] By the time the fire was fully contained on November 4, it had burned 280,278 acres (1,134.2 km2) of land, destroyed 2,820 buildings (including 2,232 homes) and killed 15 people, including one firefighter.[1]
The fire remains one of the largest wildfires in California history and, as of June 2017, [4] the largest wildfire in the state's history caused by human activity. According to CALFIRE, it is also the third deadliest and second most destructive wildfire in state history."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Fire_(2003)

A big complaint was they had 2 tanker planes and a Helicopter with a bucket at the ready to fight the fire before it got of control and they were told to stand down:

"Two sheriff's helicopter pilots, Dave Weldon and Gene Palos, both flying separate aircrafts, said last week that they were told by a CDF and U.S. Forest Service dispatcher to "stand down" and halt a plan to drop water on the flames, and that federal and state firefighting aircrafts ( 2 water full tankers waiting on the tarmac not far away) would not be available to battle the blaze, which at that time was 5 to 20 acres.

"It was definitely frustrating at the time, but it was understandable," said Weldon, who reported the fire when he arrived at the scene at 5:45 p.m. to rescue the hunter. Minutes later, Palos, who was en route from Balboa Park with a 110-gallon water bucket, said he was told to abort the mission by the dispatcher. He was heading to the El Capitan Reservoir in East County to fill the bucket, and then to Cedar Creek, which is near Ramona and minutes away.

"Weldon said a helicopter would not have done the job alone, but the flames may have been extinguished from an air tanker's precision water drop."

"Both fire agencies offered several explanations to back up their actions. They have said federal rules prohibit firefighting aircraft from flying later than 30 minutes before sunset. That evening, sunset was at 6:06 p.m., which meant the cutoff time for flights was 5:36 p.m., a minute before the blaze began."

The good news is they have learned a lot since 2003. They changed their rules on when to fly. Taxpayers have purchased more fire fighting helos and fixed wing tankers.
These things have been game changers, quick detection with better communication through the multiple agencies. Getting aircraft out there in minutes while the fire is only an acre or 2 compared to 100's of acre makes a huge difference.
This fire just happened and the response was awesome. If you watch the video the aircraft gets to places fire fighters just can't safely get to, especially in a timely fashion.
http://www.cbs8.com/story/35490914/brush-fire-burning-in-mission-trails-park


We are having a bad year here because of a wet winter resulting in a lot of dry brush (fuel) and fires have been popping up more than usual. But with all the new advanced aircraft equipment we have. We are not having the disastrous fires of the past.
The aircraft investment is nothing compared to the loss from a out of control fire.
Last edited by: getcereal: Jul 17, 17 9:39
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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Human caused fires are maddening. I like this article.

http://www.timescolonist.com/...est-shore-1.21149260


I sincerely hope it rains in BC soon.
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Re: State of Emergency - BC [jimmy d] [ In reply to ]
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jimmy d wrote:
Human caused fires are maddening. I like this article.

http://www.timescolonist.com/...est-shore-1.21149260


I sincerely hope it rains in BC soon.

We have one RCMP in my town of about 5000 people who has already written 2 cig tickets ($575 each) and 5 camp fire / illegal burning tickets ($1150).

In my past career, my policy was always either ticket or lecture, but not both. In cases like that one, exceptions were made. Some people need to be yelled at and hit in their bank account, and still won''t learn.

The smoke finally hit us today, so hazy we can't see across the valley. Hard to see new fires when its this thick.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [jimmy d] [ In reply to ]
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jimmy d wrote:
A friend is in Williams Lake, and I haven't heard from him in a couple of days, but he was ready to go if the evacuation order came.

The fire north of K-town is in Lake Country. I'm not sure if that started as a residential fire and has since grown. Damn.

Trucks are still humping supplies down to BC from here, and they'll keep coming as long as there is a need. Fort McMurray is here to help.

Stay safe out there, Skinny.

New fire started today (Wednesday), about 17 km from my home. 3.5 hectares when it was discovered, there were at least three helicopters dropping on it all evening. Forecasted winds are blowing my way. My department is on standby to assist the BC Wildfire crews if needed.

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Re: State of Emergency - BC [skinny] [ In reply to ]
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I'm in Calgary this week and heading up to Jasper on the weekend. The air in Calgary is hazy from these fires that are several hundred km away. Dang.

Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's
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