Empty nest: More Southeast, Kootenay Lake firefighters head to Alberta
By Timothy Schafer
Nearly 76 per cent of the Southeast Fire Centre’s firefighting crews are in Alberta and the Yukon this week as the wildfire season heats up outside BC borders.
The centre has deployed 166 individual firefighters to Alberta this week — including three pieces of equipment and one initial attack crew — out of 216 total crew members in the Southeast.
So who’s minding the store back here?
With six unit crews, 13 initial attack crews and seven single resources (equipment) in Alberta, Southeast fire information officer Erin Catherall said there isn’t a wildfire risk to people in the Kootenay region with such low staffing, since the fire risk is so low.
“And we have a mutual agreement throughout province and across Canada that if we need resources we can get them,” she said.
Many of the Southeast crews will be coming back later this week, said Catherall, since they are only deployed for 14 days at a time.
The Kootenay contingent makes up nearly one third of the total 600 firefighters BC sent to northern Alberta. Three 20-person unit crews, one agency rep and one airtanker group arrived in Hinton, AB, Monday to replace personnel that are now homeward bound.
A separate airtanker group has also been deployed to Fort Wainwright, Alaska, to assist with initial attack efforts following lightning activity in the area.
Costs for the deployments will be borne by the Alberta and Alaska governments under cross-border mutual aid agreements.
BC and the Southeast Fire Centre have retained enough firefighting personnel and equipment to respond to changing conditions here. The fire danger rating for most of B.C. remains very low to moderate.
Currently, much of BC is experiencing hazy skies due to extreme wildfire activity in Alberta. Check out Bluesky, Western Canada’s wildfire smoke forecaster, for hour-by-hour updates on smoke concentrations, http://www.bcairquality.ca/bluesky/index.html.
The fledgling fire season here at home
To date there have only been 10 fires in the 2011 chapter of the fire season, down from 22 at this time last year.
All of those fires have been person caused, said Catherall.
“We want to remind the public to be extra careful when lighting and managing campfires and backyard burns,” she said. “Around this time of the year, a lot of the fires that have been caused are the result of escaped backyard burns and campfires.”
All of the fires this year have been contained, and none are considered active.
A wet spring, heavy snowmelt runoff and a wet under story in the forest have suppressed the fire risk in the West Kootenay and there are no current fire bans or restrictions in place.
However, there are some rules and hints surrounding those who attempt to burn yard waste in their backyard:
- Be aware and cautious when doing backyard burning;
- Always burn in appropriate conditions;
- Have enough water and tools nearby to control the fire;
- And make sure other combustible material is cleared away from the fire;
- A burn registration number is required for any open burn pile larger than two metres by three metres;
- Call 1-888-797-1717 for more information;
- All information on open fire restrictions and current wildfire activity can be found on the website www.bcwildfire.ca.
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