B.C. summer fire season reaches historic low
By Contributor
The cloudy and wet days of spring and early summer in the Kootenays have paid off.
The provincial government has spent only $58 million fighting fires this year.
In fact, the Southeast Fire Centre firefighters — and firefighters across the province —had so little to do that the province rented out 2,051 firefighters to the tune of $25 million.
This brought B.C.’s firefighting bill for the year to a tiny $33 million, a fraction of a budget that runs to the hundreds of millions in other years where forest fires have raged.
Alberta is the latest to ask for B.C. workers, with five three-person initial attack crews shipping out Wednesday to Calgary to be sent where the firefighting need is greatest. Alberta will pay their wages while they’re waging war with the flames.
“It’s been the slowest fire season for at least a decade,” said provincial information officer Alyson Couch.
In the West Kootenay-Boundary, there have been 125 fires to-date in 2011, burning a total of 56 hectares — compared to the five-year average of 475 fires a season with over 5,500 hectares burned.
However, there is still a moderate to high fire danger rating in the Boundary.
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