2003:An Unprecedented Fire Season

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2003An Unprecedented Fire Season
2003
British Columbia An Unprecedented Fire Season In
Review
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Presentation Format

• 2003 pre-season conditions
• events as they unfolded
• drought, fires, evacuations
• whats happening now
• rehabilitation, de-briefs/reviews
• looking ahead to future seasons
• preparation, policy changes, what can we do
  better next time

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BCs Protection Program

• independent branch within BCFS since 1995
• no boundaries between Fire Centers resources
  moved where needed
• largest annual fire workload in Canada
• mid-sized program in terms of staff, seasonal
  Type 1 crews
• preparedness budget 49 million
• direct fire (statutory acct.) target 55 million
• increasing client funding contributions
• Feds (FN), Forest Industry, Private landowners,
  Utilities, etc.
• 2002 - 3.5M, 2003 - 16M, 2004 - 28-35M

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BCs Protection Program

• Three levels provincial, fire centre, zone

PrinceGeorge
North-West
Cariboo
Kamloops
Coastal
Southeast
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Protection Business PlanOperating Principles

• maintain unsurpassed safety standards
• encourage innovation at all levels in the
  organization
• train, empower and support staff
• deliver services in a professional and
  business-like manner
• aggressively pursue workforce diversity and an
  inclusive working environment

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Protection Business PlanProgram Objectives

• prevent human-caused fires
• be prepared to aggressively attack all unwanted
  fires
• keep area burned by wildfires as small as
  possible
• provide timely fire management services to land
  managers
• pursue revenue opportunities

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Fires in British Columbia
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Effectiveness - Area Burned1992-2001 average
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Preparedness Budget 1992-2001 average
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Snow Pack April 1, 2003
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Startup Drought
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Precipitation Forecast
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Global Fire Situation
"This year's fire season has been one of the
worst in recent history, in terms of loss of
human life and damage to forests and
infrastructure, which includes housing, roads,
bridges and telecommunication," - Mike Jurvelius,
forest fire specialist with FAO.

• Europe's worst-hit country, Portugal, loses over
  400,000 hectares
• In France, almost 45,000 hectares are destroyed.
• Australia loses 60 million hectares last year

• The Russian Federation lost over 23 million
  hectares- double the area lost the previous year.

• In 2002 US loses 6.9 million acres (1.6B), and
  in 2003 fires in California result in loss of
  more than 20 lives and 3000 homes

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Fire Season Preparations

• full complement of suppression resources
• initial attack sustained action crews, air
  tankers, helicopters, contract resources avail.
• additional pine beetle area fire crews
  hired/trained
• early startup in some Fire Centers (KFC, SEFC)
• ongoing availability of other government staff
• use of alternate budget sources to ensure full
  preparedness this was done in face of overall
  government budget reductions
• season outlook and potential communicated early
  to communities and other agencies

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Operational Challenges

• High turnover in 2003 from downsizing
• 38 new regular (placed) staff (18)
• 180 new firefighters (20)
• loss of corporate knowledge/experience(managers,
  technicians, firefighters)
• Budget pressures
• 1.5 million in wage settlements (2 years)
• 0.2 million in air tanker inflation adjustments
• 0.4 million in increased training costs
• Solution for 2003 early termination dates,
  reduction of HQ staff, and other efficiencies to
  meet budget shortfall

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Drought CodeJune 22, 2003
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Exported Resources (June)
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Season Conditions
Early July its apparent that the 2003 fire
season has increasing potential as drought
conditions continue
2003
1985
1994
Canadian extreme
1998
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2003 Drought
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Drought Analysis
Other Provincial MaximumsAlberta -
945 Saskatchewan - 700 Ontario - 600 New
Brunswick - 500
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Buildup Index Analysis
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Drought MapSeptember 4, 2003
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Fire Distribution
2,216 fires lt 4 hectares 110 fires gt 100
hectares 36 fires gt 1,000 hectares 8 fires gt
10,000 hectares Total 2,517 fires
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Major Fires July 16- Aug. 27

• Hells Gate 136 ha
• Tatla Lk 1,867 ha
• SW Bonapartre Lk 1,500 ha
• Chilko Lk 29,202 ha
• McLure 26,420 ha
• Vaseaux 3,300 ha
• Vermillion 3,981 ha
• Sicamous 130 ha
• McGillivray 11,400 ha
• Venables Valley 7,635 ha

Kuskanook 4,832 ha Lamb Creek 10,979
ha Plumbob Mt. 2,870 ha Harrogate 1,018
ha Ingersol 6,700 ha Burton 530 ha Kutetl
7,808 ha Cedar Hills 1,620 ha Anarchist Mt.
1,230 ha Strawberry Hill 5,731 ha Okanagan Mtn.
Park 25,600 ha
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Other Threatening Fires

• Fawn Peak Fire - Washington State
• Wedge Canyon Fire - Montana
• Toga Mt. Fire - Washington State.
• Lost Creek Alberta
• Arson a major problem this year
• Estimated 131 arson fires this year (6 arrests so
  far)

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2003 In Context
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2003 In Context
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Daily Maximums

• number of new fires 218 (763 fires over 6 days)
• 880 fires burning
• 7,668 firefighters deployed
• 1,211 pieces of heavy equipment deployed
• 220 helicopters deployed
• 9 million per day in costs
• international, national and local media attention
  fire the lead item on local TV/Radio for almost
  5 straight weeks
• At HQ /- 150 media enquiries daily

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MARS Crews and Staff
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Operation Peregrine
Aug 2 - Sep 22

• largest military operation of 2003
• 920 fire fighters
• 1600 total military personnel
• 4 helicopters
• 19 million

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Out of Province Contractors
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Crew/Staff Requests (MARS)
FF Firefighters Spec. Specialists FMT Fire
Mgmt Team VPUValues Protection Unit
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Total Crews Deployed
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Equipment

• Borrowed - 809 Mark III pumps
• - 27,360 lengths of hose
• Purchased - 101 Mark III pumps
• - 38,119 lengths of hose

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Air Tankers Used In 2003

• Current contracts
• 2 802s
• 3 Electras
• 2 Convair 580s
• 6 Firecats
• 13 Airtankers

• Borrowed
• 2 Martin Mars (TimberWest)
• 2 CL415s (Ontario)
• 6 CL415s (Quebec)
• 1 DC 6 (Yukon)
• 3 Firecats (Yukon)
• 3 AT802 (New Brunswick)
• 1 Fireboss (Conair)
• 3 Convairs (Conair)
• 2 DC 6 (Conair)
• 23 Additional Airtankers

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Restrictions Declarations

• Open Burning Restrictions June 6 - September
• Camp fire bans imposed July 23-31
• Provincial State of Emergency Declared August 1
  - September 14
• Forest Road Closures August 1-19
• Voluntary Travel Restriction issued August 20
• Forest Use Travel Restriction imposed August 29
  September 12

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Safety

• 3 million fireline hours worked huge exposure
  and potential for serious injury
• 11 serious accidents (MVAs, heavy equipment)
• 3 aviation fatalities

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Estimated Costs

• 365 million for firefighting
• 50-60 million for rehabilitation
• 60 million for reforestation
• 100 million for OFC and PEP
• Total cost /- 575 million

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Looking Forward

• Provincial Review
• government priorities
• legislation/new WFA 2004
• policy changes, PEP
• Program Reviews
• interagency
• Protection task teams
• Fire Reviews
• - done by fire
• - areas to improve on

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Looking Forward
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Looking Forward

• Sept. - Oct. - Nov. 2003

Dry
Warm
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Looking Forward
Dec. - Jan. - Feb. 2004
Warm
Dry
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Looking Forward
March -April - May 2004
Dry
Warm
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Looking Forward
June -July - Aug. 2004
Dry
Warm
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Mountain Pine Beetle Area
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Preparing for 2004

• equipment refurbishment
• ff recruiting/hiring starts in January 2004
• impacts of workforce adjustment/ERIP/VDP
• expanded District Partnership Program more
  staff to train, draw on if required
• establishment of firefighter reserve force
• community discussions Fire Smart, structural
  protection units, more x-training with structural
  fire departments, industry
• Filmon review recommendations

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Important questions we are asking ourselves

• Was the 2003 drought an anomaly?
• Is there a possibility of another 2003?
• Could a future fire seasons be worse than 2003?
• What are the prudent actions for the future?
• closer work with insurance industry?
• better opportunities for fire prevention?
• increased fuel management programs?
• increased or more specialized resources?
• Who has responsibilities?
• individuals, communities, regional districts,
  province, Canada

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Key Policy Decisions

• Wildfire act - firefighting priorities, fire
  application, cost-sharing, regulations
• Ecosystem restoration - implications to timber
  supply
• Fuel management - responsibilities, resources,
  FRPA/WFA
• Prescribed burning - resources, planning, smoke
  management, risks, public acceptance
• Firefighting strategies - new worst case,
  resources, role of contractors, ...
• Community protection - responsibilities,
  agreement, training, structure protection

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What it was like to sit in the media hot seat
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Thank You
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In Memory

• Ian Mackay
• Eric Ebert
• Ben von Hardenberg