Thursday July 27, 2023 | VICTORIA, BC
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
Between one and three days of rain fell on various areas of British Columbia earlier this week. For local gardeners, property owners and anyone relying on rain for food production or outdoor recreation it was a welcome reprieve.
But wildfire officials and the Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness said today that’s not enough precipitation to really make a difference to the trajectory of this summer being one of the driest on record.
The drought that extended from last fall, through winter, and to spring 2023 has contributed an underlying base of dry ground. When lightning strikes — or people accidentally ignite fires through human activity, the forest floor fuels are easily ready to catch fire.
British Columbians were reminded again today — during the weekly BC Wildfire Service summer 2023 update — to continue reporting any fires or smoke that are seen (there’s an app for that), to avoid doing anything that might start a fire in dry areas (e.g. avoid using equipment, and follow campfire ban advisories, and certainly don’t throw cigarette butts onto the ground), and to conserve water more attentively than ever before.
Conserving water:
Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, today asked that British Columbians shift their mindset even further about conserving water.
Indoor and outdoor water use in summer can be higher than at other times of the year.
In the Greater Victoria capital region summer water use is 44% higher than at other times of the year. There are several ways to manage water use more carefully. Water conservation bylaws are in effect May 1 – September 30 each year. | See CRD Water Conservation webpage.
Drought continues:
“We still need more rain,” said Cliff Chapman of the BC Wildfire Service, in today’s media update.
Rainfall has been “exceptionally low for the past 30 days,” said Jonathan Boyd of the BC River Forecast Centre. “With two or three more rain events we may be able to get out of the drought but typically that’s not what happens this time of year,” said Boyd.
As of 9 am this morning, the drought levels are “so much worse” than in the past two years, said Boyd. There have been declines in stream flows in most regions.
“The level of drought is unprecedented,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. “In 2021 we thought it was bad, but nothing like what we see right now,” she said today.
Being ready:
Today Minister Ma thanked people for paying attention and generally being more ready for evacuation alerts this year, compared to other years.
As of 3 pm today, there are 1,060 people under evacuation order and 543 under evacuation alert, said Ma.
Additional resources:
Minister Ma said that Ontario has not been able to respond to a BC request for 100 wildfire firefighters. But Ontario will be sending two incident management teams (about 10 to 14 people each) who are trained in challenging larger fires, said Ma.
Ma said there are six BC incident management teams.
How bad is this wildfire season?
The number of hectares burned is not necessarily the benchmark by which to gauge how extreme a wildfire season is, as explained by wildfire officials today. Many factors contribute to the severity of a fire season, including duration, level of drought, locations of wildfires, impact of lightning, etc.
Wildfire officials are thanking British Columbians for doing their part to avoid being themselves the cause of wildfires. About 80% of wildfires are caused by lightning, but the rest are, in theory, avoidable.
===== RELATED:
BC welcomes 100 wildfire firefighters from Brazil (July 23, 2023)
BC Wildfire Update July 20: long dry season, all Vancouver Island at Drought Level 5 (July 20, 2023)
Being responsible: call-in about wildfires (July 5, 2023)
