Kamloops Fire Centre 2016.06.13

On June 7, 2016 high school stu-dents from the forestry program at Rutland Senior Secondary joined Penticton Fire Zone initial attack crews during a combined-resources exercise, which includ-ed an air tanker dropping fire re-tardant on a live fire. “We conduct burn trials every Tuesday,” said Randy Burgess, a forest protection officer in the Penticton Fire Zone “Normally it is just our crews, but on this particu-lar occasion we co-ordinated the high school group visit, and the weekly air tanker practice on the same exercise. It was a really suc-cessful day for all.”

Ben Moerkoert, air attack officer in the Penticton Fire Zone, was thrilled about the event. “It was a great opportunity for the airtankers to practise with every-one. This situation was a win-win. “Having the air tankers overhead when the Penticton Crews light up is advantageous because if any-thing goes sideways then we’re right there.” “The burn trials enabled us to combine an airtanker practice

Fire

Zone

# of Fires

# of Hectares

Clearwater 3 0

Kamloops 24 40

Salmon

Arm

7 2

Vernon 3 3

Penticton 5 17

Merritt 9 94

Lillooet 5 43

Fire crews in Penticton conduct burn trials to confirm fire danger indices.

WHAT IS A HECTARE?

When it comes to wildfires, size is

an important issue. The BC Wildfire

Service keeps track of how big a fire

is by number of hectares consumed.

1 hectare (ha) is a metric unit that

equals 10,000 square metres.

1 Ha. equals about 2.47 acres.

1 hectare is approximately the size

of an average public sports field.

KAMLOOPS FIRE CENTRE

WILDFIRE STATISTICS:

Since April 1, 2016 Total fires: 56

Total hectares: 198 10 year average today

Total fires: 86 Total Hectares:: 1399

Continued on Page 3

Kamloops Fire Centre statistics by

Fire Zone (Since April 1, 2016)

Fire crews invite high school forestry students to witness burn trials and air tanker practice in Penticton

P A G E 2

FAQ: What is the Kamloops Fire Zone and how does it relate to the rest of BC?

Fire Centres and fire zones

The province is divided into six regional fire cen-

tres: Cariboo, Coastal, Kamloops, Northwest, Prince

George and Southeast. These fire centres are fur-

ther divided into local fire zones. Each fire centre is

responsible for wildfire management within its

boundaries. The Provincial Wildfire Coordination

Centre and BC Wildfire Service oversee and coordi-

nate all province-wide functions.

The Kamloops Fire Centre

Located close to the Kamloops airport, the Kam-

loops Fire Centre coordinates wildfire response

throughout south-central B.C., from Blue River in

the north to the U.S. border in the south and from

the Bridge River glacier in the west to Monashee

Mountains in the east.

There are seven fire zones in the Kamloops Fire

Centre: Clearwater (K1), Kamloops (K2), Salmon

Arm (K3) Vernon, (K4) Penticton (K5), Merritt

(K6), and Lillooet (K7).

The terrain within this area is extremely diverse -

it ranges from glaciers in the north to open range

and semi-arid desert in the Southern Okanagan,

and from steep, dry canyons in the Lytton and

Lillooet areas to the interior rainforest of Salmon

Arm. The Kamloops Fire Centre contains a variety

of vegetation, including ponderosa pine, Douglas-

fir, jack pine, lodge pole pine, spruce, balsam and

sagebrush.

Should a campfire escape, the person

responsible for the fire must attempt

to extinguish it if possible. They also must report the

escaped fire to 1 800 663-5555 or *5555.

The province is divided into six fire centres. The Kamloops Fire Centre is made up of seven Fire Zones.

P A G E 3

with initial attack crews from the Penticton Fire Zone. It exposed the students to activities under-taken by the BC Wildfire Ser-vice. This practice also gave our pilots real smoke to target and gave the crews exposure to our procedures and the effectiveness of Airtankers on a live fire,” said Moerkoert.

Burn trials are used to determine the volatility of forest fuels. By conducting these trials, fire be-haviour experts at the BC Wild-fire Service remain well-informed about the wildfire risk in a partic-ular area. This information is use-ful for determining possible risks in the upcoming fire season. Teachers Wayne Price and Al Kol-kind have been running the foresty program at Rutland Sec-ondary School for the last 15 years. Price has also been a fire warden (a local representative of the BC Wildfire Service) for the Penticton Fire Zone since 2005. Kolkind works for a wildfire sup-pression contracting crew out of Kelowna. The foresty program at Rutland Secondary School was estab-lished 30 years ago. Two to four students per year go on to post-secondary education in the for-estry field. Nine alumni of the

program are currently working on BC Wildfire Service crews. The BC Wildfire Service takes every opportunity to work with external stakeholders and educa-tional institutions to raise aware-ness about fire safety and BC Wildfire Service activities.

As of noon on May 15, 2016, Category 2 and Category 3 open fires were prohibited throughout the Kamloops Fire Centre to help prevent human-caused wildfires and protect the public. Prohibited activities include: - The burning of any waste, slash or other materials (piled or unpiled) larger than one-half me-tre by one-half metre. - The burning of more than two open fires of any size at the same time. - Stubble or grass fires of any size over any area. - The use of fireworks, sky lanterns or burning barrels of any size or description. This prohibition does not ban campfires that are a half-metre high by a half-metre wide (or smaller) and does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes. This prohibition covers all B.C. parks, Crown lands and private lands, but it does not apply with-

in the boundaries of a local government that has forest fire protection bylaws in place and is ser-

viced by a fire department.

Open Fire Bans in Kamloops Fire Centre

Firefighters convened with high

school students during the exercise

to explain BCWS roles and respon-

sibilities on a wildfire.

An air tanker drops retardant on a

fire during the exercise.

Continued from Page 1

P A G E 4

Fire Danger Ratings

What do danger class ratings actually mean? Weather has a significant impact on wildfires – in how they start, how aggressively they spread, and how long they burn.

The danger class report is updat-ed every day, based on weather station data collected from around the province. The BC Wildfire Service operates approx-imately 260 weather stations, which send automatic reports on an hourly basis. These hourly weather observations, supple-mented by data from other agen-cy stations, are used to support fire weather forecasting and the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rat-ing System (CFFDRS). The computer-based CFFDRS is the primary fire management de-cision aid in Canada. With it, fire managers can assess the poten-

tial for ignition, spread and burn-ing intensity. This information is used for making fire prevention, preparedness and suppression decisions, as well as other gen-eral fire management decisions. Temperature, relative humidi-ty, precipitation, wind speed and wind direction are recorded by the fully automated stations. This data is transmitted to BC Wildfire Service headquarters, every hour from April through October, but less frequently and from fewer stations during the winter months. Data from other agencies' weather stations is also utilized and transferred electron-ically to headquarters. Low: Fires may start easily and spread quickly, but there will be minimal involvement of deeper fuel layers or larger fuels. Moderate: Forest fuels are dry-ing and there is an increased risk of surface fires starting. Carry out any forest activities with caution. High: Forest fuels are very dry and the fire risk is serious. New fires may start easily, burn vigor-ously, and challenge fire suppres-sion efforts. Extreme caution must be used in any forest activi-ties. Open burning and industrial activities may be restricted. Extreme: Forest fuels are ex-tremely dry and the fire risk is very serious. New fires will start easily, spread rapidly, and chal-lenge fire suppression efforts.

General forest activities may be restricted, including open burn-ing, industrial activities and campfires. Fire danger ratings are communi-cated to the public through public advisory road signs, traditional media, and social media. The BC Wildfire Service reminds the pub-lic to be careful with the use of fire at all times, regardless of the danger rating.

Kamloops Fire Centre

Statistics

Since April 1, 2016:

Fires to date: 56

Hectares burned: 198

Person-caused fires: 47

Lightning-caused fires: 6

2009 at this time:

Fires to date: 209

Hectares burned: 8745

Person-caused fires: 128

Lightning-caused fires: 72

2003 at this time:

Fires to date: 77

Hectares burned: 89

Person-caused fires: 53

Lightning-caused fires: 24

The purple triangles on the map

above indicate the location of

weather stations through the Kam-

loops Fire Centre.

P A G E 5

Precipitation

Temperature Relative Humidity

These maps are for informational purposes only and should not be used to make operational decisions.

Fire Danger Rating

These maps are current as of June 13, 2016.

For the most recent weather maps, please visit http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/

fire-danger/fire-weather

Provincial weather maps

P A G E 6

BC Wildfire service danger ratings

How does the BC Wildfire Service determine fire danger ratings?

Experts at the BC Wildfire Service use several indicators to determine the level of risk for forest fires at any given time. This information is then conveyed to the public through social media, tra-ditional media, and public awareness tools (e.g. road signs).

The FFMC (Fine Fuel Moisture Code) is a code that measures the dryness of fine fuels (grasses, needles, etc.). A number of 85 or higher indicates a good chance of a fire start from an ignition source. Once 90 or higher is reached, all the fine fuels are available to burn.

The DMC (Duff Moisture Code) measures about 10 cm into the ground and is an indication of whether a fire that starts will continue to burn in the duff. A number of 40 or greater would indi-cate that a fire will continue to burn.

The DC is the Drought Code, measuring deeper in the ground. A number of 300 or greater indi-cates that the fire will burn deep into the ground, providing challenges to mop it up.

The Fire Danger Class is the typical fire danger rating that is seen on fire signage, where 1 and 2 represent “low”, 3 is “moderate,” 4 is “high” and 5 is “extreme.”

Want more information? Visit the website at bcwildfire.ca

Report a Wildfire *5555 on a cell or 1 800 663-5555

Wildfire Information Line 1 888 3FOREST (336-7378)

Burn Registration Line 1 888 797-1717

Kamloops Fire Centre 250 554-5500

Media and Public Line 250 554-5965

Important phone numbers