september 13 coastal wildfire news
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Page 1
Throughout the summer months the most
common questions we answer start with ’Can I
have a …’ In fact, when the campfire prohibition
was enacted on August 1, until August 4, 2013,
we responded to this question over 150 times.
Although the question was ‘Can I have a
campfire’, the underlying question is often ‘Why
can’t I have a campfire’. After two weeks of a
campfire ban the question became ‘when can I
have a campfire, it rained’. Although we don’t
mind answering questions, after all that’s what
we’re here for, it’s hard to spend the time with
people to tell them all the reasons we put a ban in
place when we do, why we lift it when we do and
why, despite that rain coming down (sometimes
in buckets) we don’t lift a ban immediately. This
newsletter provides an opportunity to explain the
rationale behind some of the decisions made by
the Coastal Fire Centre when a ban is enacted.
Size and management. The Coastal
Fire Centre covers 12.8 million hectares,
with six zones, six microclimates, and
vastly different fuel types. Approximately 75% of
the province’s population resides within Coastal’s
jurisdictional boundary. This means that there is
a high potential for interface fires.
The Wildfire Management Branch encourages
local governments to consider enacting open fire
bylaws, as their areas of responsibility are
smaller, they are more able to identify areas of
localized weather events and public activity, and
can be more responsive to local concerns. In the
absence of a local bylaw, the Wildfire
Management Branch under the authority of the
Wildfire Act and Regulation, implements and
rescinds prohibitions based on the data it collects
from a larger area.
When lifting a ban or restriction, time also
comes into play as the fire centre confers with
local zones as to the advisability of lifting a ban,
then speaks with those ministries or departments
directly affected by a lift such as BC Parks and
Compliance and Enforcement. This takes time as
often officers are in the field and must be notified
of any changes.
Experience. The WMB is one
organization which never discounts
experience as part of the decision making
process. Local zones have input into the lifting of
a ban as they are the expert in local geography
and current conditions. Their knowledge of the
local area and any potential difficulties should a
ban be lifted is invaluable. In some cases, it is the
zone which will convince the fire centre that a
ban should be lifted or left in place based on their
experience of past seasons.
So multiple factors, multiple agencies and
various obligations must all be conferred with,
and/or adhered to before, during and after a
prohibition is put in place. The process is
somewhat time-consuming, can be costly
(patrolling and enforcing), and in some cases,
strongly and vocally opposed. Ultimately,
however, the Wildfire Management’s mandate is
to ‘deliver effective wildfire management and
emergency response support on behalf of the
government of BC to protect life and values at
risk and to encourage sustainable, healthy and
resilient ecosystems.’
Science. At the fire centre we have a
fire management specialist, a fire
behaviour specialist and a weather
technician. These technicians look at:
current and forecasted weather conditions; long
term (3 month) weather forecasts/trends; the
calculated Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index
system fuel moisture conditions, build up index
and drought codes; current and projected wildfire
activity; number of person-caused wildfires;
number of abandoned campfires; time of year;
local government bylaws and restrictions/bans;
neighbouring Fire Centre (shared borders)
conditions, activities, resources available to fight
fires, trends and other prohibitions.
Legal obligation. The Wildfire Act
lays out the government’s obligations for
fire prevention and fire control on lands
under its authority. Prohibiting and restricting
activities and devices is a measure used to safe-
guard the public-restricting or prohibiting open
fire is not something taken lightly.
The Province of BC relies heavily on certain
industries to drive its economy. Among the two
most affected by fire prohibitions are tourism and
forestry, so it is not without serious consideration
that a prohibition is put in place. It is also up to
senior officers to provide justification to their
superiors to enact any type of ban or prohibition.
Page 2
Check with your local
authority before burning.
Check the weather—make
sure ‘no gusty winds are
in the forecast’ and check
the venting index.
Determine what you want
to burn. If you have flower gardens, use the
leaves or pine straw to mulch the plants. It will
provide nutrients to the soil, and will help the
soil hold moisture for the plants. Sticks, limbs
and yard debris are good things to burn. Only
yard debris should be burned – woody debris.
Make sure that you have a rake, shovel, hose
and water access before you start burning. You
may use the rake to pull stray embers back into
the fire. The shovel may be used to scoop up
larger embers or break up pieces to make them
burn faster. You may also use the shovel to put
dirt over spots that start burning too much.
Always have a hose and water ready to use to
keep fire from spreading.
Find a clear space away from any trees or
material that will burn. You may burn on
mineral soil. If you burn on the ground, dig out
a small area. Make sure there isn't any grass or
straw remaining on the spot
where you are going to
burn. Make a small pile of
limbs, sticks and brush.
Light the brush pile with a
lighter or match. Do not
use oil, gas or other
combustibles to start your
fire. And remember a Category 2 open fire is
the burning of yard debris such as twigs, tree
limbs and other plant debris. Do not burn
household garbage! It may contain toxic
substances such as plastics that should be
safely disposed of elsewhere.
Burn the sticks, limbs and brush until it has
turned in to ashes. Keep adding brush to the
pile as it burns down, but don't add too much at
once. You do not want the fire to get too large
to control nor smother the fire so it creates too
much smoke. And Always, Always stay with
your fire!
Wet down the ashes. Make sure that after you
have burned all of the yard waste, you put the
fire out. You do not want to leave any hot
embers that could smolder and restart the fire.
Allow all of the embers to cool before you do
anything with the ashes.
Days and even weeks after you have a fire a pile or burn barrel may reignite. A pile or burn barrel may
continue to hold heat within the remaining ash. A drop in humidity brought on by a few warm days,
combined with a light wind could reignite the embers and bring your backyard burn back to life.
To ensure your fire is truly out, follow these steps:
Drown the ashes or remnants of your fire if you can no longer monitor it. Turn over the ashes with a
shovel and drown it again. Repeat several times until you can safely coldtrail the fire.
Check the burn area regularly over the next few hours and then over the next few days check it
intermittently.
At the onset of warm, dry weather, especially when accompanied by wind, check the burn area again,
even if it is weeks after the burn.
Remember—an escaped backyard burn not only affects you but could potentially affect your
neighbours or your whole community. You do not want to be responsible for burning down someone
else’s property.
Page 3
If you choose to use a burn
barrel to burn debris make sure
that your burn barrel has these
features:
1. Be sure that the barrel is all-
metal construction and is in
good condition. Inspect the
walls and the bottom of the
barrel to make sure the
barrel has not been
weakened by rust.
2. Make sure that the barrel has proper
ventilation. Three evenly spaced vents
around the bottom of the barrel will feed
air to the fire for a more efficient burn
but make sure the barrel is on mineral
soil.
3. The barrel should have a metal top
screen to reduce the number of embers
escaping. The wire should be a
minimum of 14 gauge mesh size or 6
mm.
4. For a more efficient burn
layer your materials and stir
often. Place the smallest twigs
and branches on the bottom of
the pile and stir to introduce
more oxygen to the pile. Keep
leaves, needles and bark in a
separate pile and feed them into
the barrel after the fire is
underway.
5. Never burn anything but natural
vegetation (twigs, leaves, etc.). Do not
burn household garbage, plastics or
anything not considered yard debris.
6. Think small—a small efficient fire is
more effective than a large roaring blaze.
It is easier to control, and easier to
maintain. Add small amounts of
material; it will keep the flame length
shorter and reduce the number of
sparks.
Before doing any debris burning
in a pile or in a burn barrel prepare
the site properly to reduce the risk of
the fire escaping. Otherwise, flame or
embers may ignite nearby vegetation
or structures and could potentially
start a wildfire.
Select an area where flames,
radiant heat and airborne embers
won’t affect any combustible
materials. Now look up. Vertical
clearance must be at least three times
the height of the pile. Although a
fires flames are visible several feet
above the source of the fuel, heat will
continue to rise. There should be no
overhanging limbs, power lines or
eaves above and it should be well
away from any buildings in the area.
The horizontal clearance should be
twice the height of the pile. The
ground around the fire should be
cleared down to mineral soil or gravel
so the fire does not traverse to any
roots below the surface.
When burning burn small piles that
are manageable. Although a Category
2 open fire allows for fires up to, but
no larger than 2 metres in height and 3
metres in width consider your location
and build a smaller fire if you are in a
more confined space.
A light wind is fine but strong or
gusty winds will whip the flames up
and move embers through the air.
Consider waiting for a calmer day if
the winds are too strong.
3
3
Composting is an effective, environmentally
safe way to recycle yard waste, and the compost
is used to improve lawns, vegetable gardens and
flower beds, or it is applied as a mulch around
shrubs and trees. Generally, compost consists of
not only yard waste, but kitchen waste such as
egg shells, coffee grounds and vegetable peelings.
Many communities offer composting
programs, including convenient curbside
collection bins or drop-off programs. Yard waste
such as twigs and leaves can be chopped up with
a lawnmower and used as mulch on lawn or
around shrubs and trees. For larger branches,
chippers are available for rent. Check with your
community for programs.
Composting can reduce yard waste volume by
50 to 75 per cent. It adds rich nutrients to your
soil, saving money on costly fertilizers.
Since September 2, 2013, there have been 12
new fire starts in the Coastal Fire Centre. The
majority of these have been holdover lightning
and have been held at spot size (.09).
With the reduction in fire starts over the last
two weeks those crews remaining have shifted
gears and are working on fuels management
projects. These projects are in areas were the
reduction of fuels will reduce the severity of
damage, should a wildfire occur. Projects are
being carried out in parks, in municipalities and/
or regional districts.
According to our weather forecaster the warm
weather we have been experiencing will continue
until Sunday evening. The weather will shift
dramatically Sunday night resulting in widespread
showers and rain throughout. We would like to
remind everyone to be cautious with all burning.
With unseasonably warm weather until the end of
the weekend we ask that everyone be cautious,
whether it is with campfires or debris burning
please remember you are responsible for any
burning you initiate.
SYNOPSIS: The strong upper ridge, still over BC, will
bring another sunny warm day today and again
tomorrow. A very weak onshore flow overnight has
allowed sea fog to shroud western Vancouver Island,
including all the island major lakes, and wrap around
the island to reach the south side of the Fraser River.
The fog is quite shallow and looks to burn off before
noon. Temperatures today will be very similar to
Thursday rising to the high 20s and into the low 30s for
interior valleys. Humidity remains moderate and winds
light. There is insignificant convective development
and no showers occur. Saturday appears will be very
much the same and continues warm and dry.
OUTLOOK: Sunday sees the upper ridge finally shift
east with a broad and very wet upper trough moving in
to bring fall rains. But even so, Sunday starts sunny
then quickly clouds up as the trough approaches.
Temperatures will be warm but not hot; humidity rises
of course; but winds remain light. The Canadian and
US models are in close agreement bringing the first
rains to southwest Vancouver Island around 5 PM
Sunday. After that, further periods of rain or frequent
showers spread across the island, east across the
mainland and northward to the Mid-coast and Haida
Gwaii. Some models show 24 hour amounts of well
over 20 mm by Monday afternoon. It continues to rain
Tuesday.
Page 4
Check with local officials—
burning at your location may
be prohibited.
Check the weather—don’t
burn on dry, windy days.
Check your equipment—
have fire fighting equipment
and water ready.