Wildfires

It's the time of year that we love living in Lac Le Jeune -- perfect for spending those long, warm days enjoying the outdoors. Unfortunately, the hot, dry weather also brings thunder and lightning. In this area that also means threat of wildfires.

But if lightning were our only concern we would be feeling much more at ease. Alarmingly, the 50% of wildfires in British Columbia are caused by humans. In fact, looking at the statistics since 1998, there are several years where human-caused wildfires tipped the scale. Look at 2005, just two short years after the devastating fires around Kamloops: 60.9% of the wildfires that year were human caused.

There are occasions when fires are started intentionally, but those aren't very common. Sadly, the reason is usually that these people are careless, and are simply unaware of the consequences of their actions. The tourist I saw yesterday smoking at the far end of the little lake probably has no idea how brutally dry the grass is, and that a flick of those ashes could lead to an evacuation of our community. The ATV riders I saw coming off the logging road past the provincial park don't realize the risks of extremely hot exhaust systems. In fact, avoid parking a CAR on dry grass is on the list of ways to prevent wildfires. Do most people know that? Probably not. The only solution is education, and there are a lot of people out there that need to be educated.

photo by Sylvia Currie

How to prevent wildfires (taken from BC Ministry of Forests and Ranges website and other sources)

• Be aware of burning regulations. (Obviously right now campfires and yard burning are prohibited. There's a whole list of related precautions I'll leave out.)
• Smoke only on concrete or on naked, brushless dirt.
• Put your cigarette out on something nonflammable. Never put it out on a stump.
• Do not discard smoking materials from vehicles; use interior ashtrays.
• Never use lawn mowers and weed trimmers to clear dead grass and vegetation during the heat of the day. Just the simple spark from a mower's blade on a rock can start a wildfire.
• Lawn & farm equipment should have properly working spark arresters to prevent sparks from exiting through the exhaust pipes. While spark arrestors are not 100% effective, they GREATLY reduce the risk of starting a wildfire.
• All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) produce an enormous amount of heat and can ignite brush from their exhaust systems.
• Don't park your vehicle on dry grass.
• Don't use fireworks.
• Make sure matches are cold before they leave your hands.
• Keep several fire extinguishers in your house, and know where they are!
• Do not leave a barbeque unattended, and be prepared to deal with flames and sparks.

There are several ways to keep up-to-date on the wildfire situation in the province:

• The BC Wildfire Management Branch website has a list of all the fires, with background information and maps.
• Kamloops radio NL has news on the hour and regular updates -- 610 on the AM dial, or listen via the internet.
• The list of evacuation letters and other correspondence such as "state of emergency" notices can be found on the TNRD file server under Wildfire Information.
• BC Forest Fire Info on Facebook has regular updates. The headlines of the Facebook updates are on the LLJ blog on the right sidebar.
• You can also read shorter updates on twitter.
• Toll free number: 1‑888‑3FOREST (1‑888‑336‑7378)

After fire storm around Kamloops by pentaboxes