Jeff Belcher “B.C. Wildfires: past and future”

What we’re hoping not to see this summer…
– J. Belcher

The Coastal Fire Centre
– J. Belcher

The scale of resources is huge…and others are “on call”…
– J. Belcher

In comparison to other Fire Centres, things were relavively quiet here last year
– J. Belcher

The long-term trend is obvious…but the reasons are complex. Forestry, historical wildfire management, insect outbreaks, and global werming all play a role.
– J. Belcher

To put it mildly, the last two fire seasons were “above average”
– J. Belcher

Of note is the incredible importance of weather, Wildfire activity literally exploded in early August.
– J. Belcher

The scale of things was impressive
– J. Belcher

And how can we predict such things?
– J. Belcher

Well, 2019 will be an El Niño year, bringing warmer and dryer conditions.
– J. Belcher

So, although computer models are “just computer models”…things are not looking rosy
– J. Belcher

Yikes
– J. Belcher

Fire preparedness starts at home
– J. Belcher

Depending on high atmospheric conditions, wildfire (red dots) smoke can travel around the globe
– National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) via the Washington Post

Jeff Belcher “B.C. Wildfires: past and future”
by Andrew Bryant, 25 Apr 2019.

Jeff Belcher works for the BC Wildfire Service.  He spent the first ten years working in the interior of the province out of Williams Lake and Alexis Creek.  He grew up in Courtenay, so made the move to Powell River just over a year ago to be closer to home and enjoy the unbeatable coastal lifestyle.

Jeff’ spoke about the 2017/2018 wildfire seasons, with specific reference to “his” area, the Coastal Fire Centre (CFC).  The thing that impressed me the most was the scale of things.  We’re talking about huge areas of forests (almost 17 million hectares) and resources (210+ people) – not to mention aircraft, trucks, chainsaws, and other personnel drawn in from across the Province – or across Canada – or even from Australia or South Africa!

By comparison with other Fire Centres, the Coastal Fire Centre had a “quiet” 2018 season, with “only” 297 fires and ~150,000 hectares burned.  The Northwest Fire Centre had fewer fires (150) but these burned an extraordinary 843,000 hectares.   Equally impressive were the trends over time.  In a word, they’re up.

Jeff provided some helpful links, for example to the B.C.’s FireSmart Program, which seeks to educate landowners about how best to protect their own properties.   He also shared some fascinating graphics…some of the smoke you saw last August…may having been coming from Siberia!