In the midst of the worst fire season in BC’s history, Premier Eby declared a state of Emergency last Friday.
However there are no major fires in the Discovery Islands. The Village Bay Lake Fire, on Quadra Island, seems to have been brought under control in a single day. Aside from that, the closest wildfires are in Phillips Arm and the Strathcona Provincial Park.
Cortes Currents asked BC Wildfire Information Officer Kimberly Kelly for an update on local conditions and insight into what they mean.
KK: “I can tell you about the Strathcona Park fires. These are five known lightning-caused fires. Three of the wildfires are listed as under control. Two of the wildfires have merged, producing smoke that is highly visible from a wide area. That includes Campbell River, Courtney, Comox, and Gold River. This fire is in a high elevation and steep terrain.”
“The fire is being monitored, together with our partners in BC Parks. When a fire is being monitored, this means that the BC Wildfire Service is observing and analyzing the fire, but it is not immediately suppressed. The BC Wildfire Service recognizes fire as an essential ecological process supporting biodiversity and ecosystem resiliency.”
“It’s been determined that natural fires that do not threaten safety or infrastructure should be allowed to burn as part of the natural process of the park until it is extinguished by rain or begins to threaten values. If that occurs, they will be actioned where it is safe to do so. Given the long term forecast and the drought conditions, some of these fires may continue to burn and produce smoke into the fall.”
CC: What’s happened with the Quadra Island fire?
KK: The Quadra Island fire is listed as under control at 1.5 hectares.
CC: That was pretty quick, at least it seemed pretty quick to me.
KK” We have a very good initial attack success rate. That is our priority, particularly in areas where there are high values. That is life and safety of the public and property and critical infrastructure.”
CC: The only other fire I’m aware of in our area is Philips Arm.
KK: “It is listed as 92 hectares and out of control, again, a naturally caused fire, lightning. This fire is located in very steep and dangerous terrain. No crews are currently assigned to this fire, as our field staff has determined that there’s no workable objectives to assign to crews at this time. So access options are being evaluated.”
CC: Are there any other fires in our immediate area?
KK: “I think we’ve covered it. You can go to the BC wildfire service map and that will give you real time information and updates about any fires that are in your area or throughout the coastal fire center. That map is populated directly from our dispatch.”
CC: Now I want to move to some opinions. This is a two pointer .When I heard Premier Eby talking about this being the worst fire season that BC has seen, I was thinking that it didn’t seem to apply to our area. The second part is even if it isn’t a critical situation now, what’s the potential? How concerned should we be?
KK: “To answer your first question, the Premier was speaking about a provincial scope and scale. So he was talking about the conditions of the wildfire activity across the province.”
“Fire danger rating in the central island and the coast is from moderate to high. That’s due to extreme periods of drought and the recent heatwave that we experienced, as well as the crashing ridge bringing that cold front through last week.”
“The entire coastal fire centre has not seen a significant amount of rainfall since prior to May. We are in a drought condition. Our forest fire fuels are very dry and the ignition potential is extremely high.”
CC: Is there anything you would want to say to the public yourself?
“We rely on the public for early detection of wildfires. 40% of our wildfires are actually detected by the public. So if you see smoke or a wildfire, please dial 1 800 663 5555 or star 5555 from your cell phone. You can also download the free BC wildfire mobile app and set up ‘near me’ notifications to be notified in real time of any fire activity in your area. So we encourage the public to use that tool to keep their families, their friends, their properties and their community safe.”
Top image credit: Smoke from the Strathcona Park fire approaching Campbell River at sunset on Saturday, Aug 19, 2023 – Photo by Ian LeCheminant
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