Saturday July 24, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC [Updated 6:15 pm]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc., Editor | Island Social Trends
There is national and international interest in the BC wildfire situation. On TV it looks dire — the number of fires sounds enormous.
In context, there are natural wildfires every summer. Though in 2017, 2018 and now in 2021 the additional heat conditions (which dry out the forests) are contributing to a higher load of fire activity.
Most fires are caused either by lightning (natural causes) or by the activity of people (smoking materials poorly discarded, use of vehicles and equipment around dry brush, etc).
In the interior, the daily temperature is expected to be in the mid-30’s (degrees Celcius) for the coming week. [See Environment Canada forecast for Vernon.] This does produce conditions where natural and human-caused fires can start quite easily.
If you don’t need to be in the back country, don’t go, said Premier John Horgan earlier this week.
A State of Emergency around the wildfire situation was officially called on July 20 by BC Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, to start on July 21. Resources of equipment and personnel were already thought to be arriving and procurable without the State of Emergency, but putting the State of Emergency in place means that the provincial government can arrange for accommodation for evacuees and others who are supporting the wildfire effort.
More firefighters arriving:
Today Minister Farnworth said that 100 professionally-trained firefighters have arrived from Mexico today. They will be working on the firelines in the BC central interior and southeast. That’s where most of the active fires are currently happening; 95 fires are in the Kamloops Fire Centre, which covers most of the southern Interior.
Farnworth spoke very highly of the Mexican firefighters, calling them well-trained. They are available for the next 30 days. Farnworth added that BC reciprocates with sending firefighters to Mexico when needed there.
More firefighters will be arriving mid-week, said Farnworth, including from Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Parks Canada. More details to come in the days ahead, he added.
In total now, the number of firefighters from the Canadian Armed Forces is 350, said Farnworth today. The detachment of soldiers who have arrived today at Vernon (in the BC Interior) “will be receiving their tasks”; earlier this week, BC Wildfire Service said that would be about 250 personnel.
The primary role of the Canadian soldiers will be to “mop up” fires that have been “brought under control” on the firelines, said Farnworth. The other detachment will be arriving later this week, he said. That’s presumably, then, about 100 military personnel, also being assigned to the task of ‘mopping up’.
Firefighters are accommodated at fire camps near the fires, Farnworth said today.
Farnworth said that “challenging weather is being forecast for the foreseeable future”. But also, with confidence: “We will see the other side of this fire season.”
Current fire tally:
There are currently 227 fires (as of midnight this morning) of which 39 are ‘fires of note‘ (either larger and/or not yet contained).
There are no fires of note on Vancouver Island.
Smoky air – a health concern:
Smoky air is a health concern not only for the firefighters in the active fireline areas, but also for anyone in regions where the winds carry the air that contains all the combustibles and fire retardant materials. That air has not yet reached Vancouver Island this summer.
Public health officials say that if you have to choose between properly ventilating yourself (staying cool) and breathing smoky air, the short-term choice is to stay cool. Don’t overheat yourself. Maintain fans and air conditioning in your living and working environments; visit public spaces (like malls and libraries) for fresh cool air as required.
Though in the long-term, the more smoky air you’ve inhaled will have some sort of impact over time. As the BC Centre for Disease Control’s (BC CDC) Scientific Director in Environmental Health Services, Sarah Henderson, said in a media teleconference on July 22: “If you are protecting yourself in the short term that also protects you against any potential long term impacts as well”.
Role of municipal and regional health authorities:
Henderson also said in a media session on July 22, that BC CDC has developed resources for municipalities –particularly around heat and some around smoke. “We do highly encourage the regional health authorities to work with the municipalities to enact those plans. Unfortunately some of these things take quite a lot of planning and can take quite a lot of time.”
“What we hope, is that as we move into the future we are going to have better and better plans for these types of events,” said Henderson regarding advisories about heat and smoke.
===== RELATED:
Smoky air is a health hazard, but heat trumps that (July 24, 2021)
Wildfire season: stay out of the back country (July 21, 2021)
Wildfires prompt State of Emergency in BC (July 20, 2021)
Protecting yourself from wildfire smoke & heat (July 6, 2021)
Summer health hazards: heat wave & wildfire smoke (July 3, 2021)
