233063

Wildfire  

Insurance Bureau urges B.C. residents to get their homes ready for wildfire season

Is your home wildfire ready?

Small wildfires that popped up over the weekend in the Okanagan are a reminder that fire season is coming. The Insurance Bureau of Canada is advising B.C. residents to check their home insurance policies to make sure they have adequate coverage.

“As reported by the BC Wildfire Service, there are more than 90 active wildfires across the province, with many still burning from last year’s record-breaking season,” said Rob de Pruis, national director, Consumer and Industry Relations, IBC. “The 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive in British Columbia’s history, and 2024 has the potential to be another intense wildfire year.”

IBC is offering 10 tips to protect your home before and during wildfire season.

Ways to be prepared year-round:

  • Install and regularly maintain smoke and CO alarms in your home. Remove dust from your alarms, replace batteries when the clocks change in spring and fall, test alarms regularly and replace them at least every 10 years.
  • Create an emergency preparedness plan and a disaster safety kit for your family. Develop a fire evacuation plan, practise it and stick to it in an emergency. Also, prepare a basic kit of food, water and other necessities in case of evacuation
  • Keep your insurance policy number and insurance company claims department phone number with you. If your home is damaged or you are evacuated, you will be able to contact your insurer more easily to start the claims process. Review and understand what coverage you have, and how your policy will respond if a wildfire affects you.

Actions you can take now, particularly if you live near a forest or wooded area:

  • Prepare your home. Check that your home’s roof and exterior walls and the undersides of balconies are treated with flame-resistant materials.
  • Properly store flammable materials. Store gasoline, solvents or other materials that may ignite, at least 10 metres away from your home.
  • Remove dry leaves and debris. Keep leaves, other dry materials and potentially flammable garbage away from the exterior of the house, especially if you have wood or vinyl siding.
  • Manage space around your home. Remove combustible material such as shrubs, trees and woodpiles within 10 metres of your home.
  • Read these valuable resources from FireSmart Canada for in-depth information about wildfire resilience and steps you can take to minimize wildfire risk

During the wildfire season:

  • Stay informed about the weather. Be sure to monitor local and provincial information sources for fire bans and warnings.
  • Pay attention to fire danger ratings. Take note of and obey fire bans and restrictions to know the likelihood of, and prevent, wildfire igniting in your region. Check your local government's website for more information.

“IBC is urging BC residents to stay alert and follow the advice of local authorities when it comes to fire bans,” added de Pruis. “In the event that you are evacuated, make sure you plan as you could be out of your home for more than one or two days. Last year, many individuals and families were displaced for several days or longer.”

Severe weather in 2023 caused over $3.1 billion in insured damage across Canada, including $720 million from the Okanagan and Shuswap wildfires. Insured losses related to severe weather now routinely exceed $2 billion annually. Between 2001 and 2010, Canadian insurers averaged $675 million a year in losses related to severe weather.

IBC is in discussion with the federal and provincial governments on ways to improve the climate resilience of communities across the country.



Clean up of a downtown Vernon fire site has been halted due to hazardous materials

Work stopped at fire site

Work to clean up a large Vernon fire site has been stopped before it really began.

The massive fire in the downtown core completely destroyed a building on July 4, 2023, leaving a pile of rubble behind.

The fire also destroyed multiple businesses inside the building at the corner of 29th Avenue and 30th Street.

Work to clean up the mess was supposed to start last week, but a stop-work order has been issued by WorkSafe BC because of hazardous materials at the site.

On March 12, an inspection at the workplace was conducted to assess compliance with the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

Asbestos was discovered at the site.

The report states 14 samples were collected from various locations from the debris and analyzed for asbestos, two of which contained the cancer-causing material.

A section of the report states:

"Due to the presence of asbestos-containing drywall joint compound debris, the debris pile should be treated as an asbestos-contaminated environment. These areas should be isolated and entry to these areas should be limited to workers following moderate risk asbestos work procedures."

The report says the plan was to section off the material that was noted on the hazardous material survey as non-asbesbtos-containing and remove it without using asbestos-related controls. The rest of the material would then be considered asbestos-containing and would be removed using moderate-risk procedures.

The report goes on to say the inspector “spoke to the foreman, project supervisor, one worker, and the owner of the property while onsite” and “explained that due to the significant damage to the building material and disruption of debris during and following the fire, it is not practicable to discern what material is or is not contaminated with asbestos.”

The inspector arrived on site and observed some debris had been moved into a pile near the entrance using an excavator. The inspector spoke to the foreman and confirmed the plans for the abatement of the debris.

“Workers were observed not wearing personal protective equipment required for moderate-risk asbestos work (e.g., respirators, disposable coveralls). The cab of the excavator was wide open and the worker was observed eating their lunch inside,” the report says.

“In order to remove and dispose of all hazardous materials safely, you must have trained and qualified hazardous materials-removal worker(s) conducting hazardous materials abatement using safe work practices and procedures. Employers must not disturb any material that is suspected or known to be asbestos-containing without the implementation of adequate exposure controls.”

Following the inspection of the site, the WorkSafe BC board “has reasonable grounds to believe there is a high risk of serious injury, serious illness or death to a worker at this workplace.”

Thus, a stop work order was issued.

The building's owner, Gary Batula, told Castanet in an earlier interview that NAPP Enterprises LTD. has been hired to clean-up the site.



BCWS to prohibit open burning in Cariboo Fire Centre at end of the month

Cariboo fire ban coming

High drought conditions has resulted in a fire ban in the Cariboo region scheduled for the end of this month.

The ban will be in place as of noon on March 28, banning all category two and three open burning fires across the entire Cariboo Fire Centre region, which includes the Cariboo Chilcotin Forest District, the 100 Mile House Forest District and the Quesnel Forest District.

The Cariboo region has experienced an unseasonable dry fall and winter, resulting in high drought conditions, the BC Wildfire Service said in a press release.

The ban also prohibits the use of fireworks and sky lanterns in the region.

The ban will be in place until Nov. 1, unless the order is rescinded earlier.

This prohibition does not ban campfires that are half-metre high by half-metre wide or smaller. It does not apply to cooking stoves that use gas, propane or briquettes.

Anyone conducting open burning anywhere within the Cariboo region must extinguish the fire or face a fine of $1,150, the possibility of having to pay an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 or, if convicted in court, fined up to $100,000 and/or sentenced to one year in jail. If the contravention causes or contributes to a wildfire, the person responsible may be ordered to pay fire fighting and associated costs.

The open fire prohibition applies to all BC Parks, Crown lands and private lands, but does not apply within the boundaries of a local government that has forest fire prevention bylaws in place and is serviced by a fire department.



Kamloops filmmaker releasing doc on Logan Lake's FireSmart success in face of 2021 Tremont Creek fire

2021 wildfire on big screen

The community of Logan Lake spent 18 years becoming the first FireSmart community in Canada, and now a Kamloops filmmaker has put together a documentary looking at the blaze that nearly destroyed the community two summers ago.

Vesta Giles is writer, director and producer of The Test, a documentary about the out-of-control Tremont Creek wildfire that burned into Logan Lake’s municipal boundary in the summer of 2021.

No structures were lost to the fire, an outcome Giles credits to ongoing FireSmart initiatives that aided in mitigating the damage.

“The Test is about the town of Logan Lake, which spent 18 years becoming the first fire smart community in Canada and they've been doing it since 2003 trying to get ready for a fire that they hoped would never come,” Giles said.

“Then in 2021, it did come. And so I have a day job in Logan Lake and when we were evacuated that was my first thought — because they were the first FireSmart community in Canada, that program was being put to the test.”

Giles said her crew of filmmakers were the first allowed into the burned area following the fire, prior to acquiring funding for the film.

“One of the big challenges for doing this documentary is that there were no film crews allowed in,” she said.

“We're relying on what I would call wild footage and that's cellphone footage from firefighters that were there. We've even got some doorbell cameras that we've got access to.”

Filming with a team of four, with occasional production assistants brought in to aid with lighting, Giles said the team filmed in Summerland, Apex Mountain and at the legislature in Victoria.

She said the budget of the documentary is approximately $175,000. Giles said funds were raised from FireSmart and various other organizations, including Highland Valley Copper and the District of Logan Lake.

Giles said what attracted her to the project was the passion she saw from those fighting the wildfire, as well as the success of the initiative in protecting the community.

“I saw how scared they were when they were evacuated and I saw how passionate the local government was about FireSmart and about keeping people safe and I thought these are people that have really put their all on wildfire,” Giles said.

“One of the guys who was involved in the early Firesmart days, he talks about wildfire management around the world And he just said it was it was good to have a success story and he said After they'd had so many losses It was good to see something that worked.”

Giles said the documentary is currently completing sound editing, but she is hoping to premier the film in Kamloops next month before it is widely released on YouTube in May.

She said she hopes audiences will take away the personal responsibility they have to protect their community from wildfires.

“All the work that those crews did to fight the fire was done on land that was treated for FireSmart purposes and it was more effective,” Giles said.

"I’m hoping that that people will recognize that there is something they can do — they're not hopeless — that there's something they can do to protect themselves from wildfire.”



BCWS announces second Merritt-area prescribed burn to start next week

Quilchena burn planned

The BC Wildfire Service will be conducting another Merritt-area prescribed burn starting as early as next week.

In a press release the wildfire service announced it will conduct the burn, in conjunction with the Upper Nicola Band and its fire department, across 79-hectares of land approximately 23 kilometres northeast of Merritt and adjacent to Quilchena.

The prescribed burn will begin as soon as March 11 and continue until approximately mid-April or until the grasslands are too green to burn. The start and end dates of the project will also be dependent on local weather and venting conditions in the area, the BCWS announced Friday afternoon.

Smoke from this project may be visible to Quilchena and Nicola Lake residents, as well as travellers along Highway 5A at Quilchena, the BCWS warns.

The prescribed burn is intended to reduce buildup of dead grass, promote growth of traditional food and work towards community protection objectives in a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) area. The burn will also provide critical cross training opportunities.

The BCWS also announced plans to conduct a 314-hectare burn starting March 11, weather permitting, 33 kilometres northeast of Merritt in the Douglas Lake area.

For more information on the importance of cultural burning and prescribed fire, click here.



Wildfire mitigation specialist encourages Shuswap residents to take part in FireSmart program

Residents urged to FireSmart

Eight neighbourhoods in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District have completed the FireSmart wildfire mitigation program, and a wildfire mitigation specialist says several more are currently undertaking the process.

Sophie Randall, who is working with the CSRD to organize its FireSmart programming, said the initiative has grown in popularity.

“There's been an uptake in people not only reaching out for the ignition zone assessments, like individual property level visits, but there's a lot of people interested in neighbourhoods and working as a community towards mitigating the risks of wildfires," Randall said.

Interested community members who reach out to the CSRD’s FireSmart team will be put in contact with a local FireSmart representative, or an LFR — a local firefighter who has received FireSmart assessment training.

“The majority of the people that work with us are indeed local firefighters from our fire halls, so they already have a good sense of the hazards," Randall said.

“Then with the FireSmart training…we focus a lot more on wildland fire behaviour. And especially when it gets to what we call the interface level, when fire comes at the level of homes, basically, of structures.”

Randall said the team has worked with local residents organizing a FireSmart effort on their street all the way up to large strata groups representing several hundred people.

CSRD can help with FireSmart clean up

Randall said the FireSmart assessment is a bit of work to organize and complete, but she provided Castanet with a run down of the process.

“We have an LFR that would come and visit and do a walk around with them around their neighbourhoods… do an initial look around at what is at risk, and the work that would be needed,” Randall said.

“We make a few recommendations, we generally encourage them to organize a FireSmart clean-up weekend.”

For neighbourhoods interested in having a clean-up weekend, the CSRD has a few ways it can help. This includes renting large yard waste bins which can be left over long weekends or throughout the week.

"Then they can dispose of all the yard waste there, we can also rent a chipper for [neighbourhoods] to help with chipping branches and getting rid of yard waste," Randall said.

After the initial cleanup, the LFR will come back for a second assessment.

“We have a second visit where the local FireSmart representative walks around and does a much more thorough investigation,” Randall said.

“We follow up with a report which is called the neighbourhood wildfire hazard assessment, then this focuses on all aspects of the type of fuels that are around, the topography also…as well as looking at what the top priority areas that we would encourage the residents to look out for."

Randall said priority areas include critical infrastructure like hydro poles, and making sure an evacuation route is as clear as possible in the event of a wildfire.

She noted vegetation is also important to consider.

“There's still a lot of education to be done around FireSmart,” Randall said. “It's not just about cutting trees down, we're looking really at your home, the immediate area of your home, and then working on areas around it as well.”

How to take part

Randall wants to encourage residents to get in touch with FireSmart BC to help mitigate the danger of wildfires in their community.

“We'll get a local FireSmart representative to help you, and really focus on what's a priority around your home or around your neighbourhood," she said.

For more information, residents can visit the FireSmart BC website or send an email to the CSRD FireSmart team at [email protected].



Homes about to rise from the ashes of McDougall Creek wildfire

Rebuilding after wildfire

As green shoots push through the soil, this spring will also herald a rebirth of sorts for some neighbourhoods on the west side of Okanagan Lake.

Homes are about to start rising from the ashes of the McDougall Creek wildfire.

In the community of Royal Heights, on Westbank First Nation land, builder ARG Contracting has been hired to help four property owners rebuild. Work is set to start soon on two of the home sites.

“In the next couple of weeks we’re planning to start excavation. Not this Monday but the next, we’re going to start the excavation process,” said ARG Contracting owner Adam Galbraith, who has been in business in the Kelowna area for the past five years.

Until this point he has been working through the red tape associated with getting the projects off the ground.

“We’ve just been in the part of planning and getting the process approved by strata in that complex and getting the drawings finalized with the clients. That’s a big part of the battle,” said Galbraith.

Elsewhere in the fire-affected area, progress is moving a bit slower. As of March 5, 2024, the Regional District of Central Okanagan had issued 66 demolition permits, but only one building permit in relation to the McDougall Creek wildfire.

The City of West Kelowna has issued 40 demolition permits, with almost half of those buildings having been removed thus far. However, only one building permit application has come in so far.

“I would anticipate that will change given the time of year, and note that we have a plan in place to respond to them as quickly as possible,” said Brent Magnan, director of development approvals with the City of West Kelowna.

One of the property owners working with ARG who is about to see construction begin on his new home is Mike Emslie.

“When we knew our house had burned down the first thing that came to our mind was trying to find a good contractor. The one day we had Samaritan’s Purse over going through what was left of the house, Adam came and met us right on site,” said Emslie.

“My wife and I are very excited to get going with the build.”

One of the biggest challenges for those hoping to rebuild is dealing with their insurance company.

“Some of our clients have been provided a cheque upfront and we are breaking ground on construction, while others are experiencing longer timelines with their insurance providers and are still in the process of bidding and contractor selections,” said Galbraith.

He says there has been pushback from certain insurance providers on covering items such as septic system removal and rebuild. It's also a good idea to check that your policy covers things like living expenses during the rebuild period.

“Ultimately we are working to ensure our clients have their homes back to the way they were, and part of that means advocating for clients through the insurance process to ensure they are not out of pocket on any remediation or building costs," Galbraith said.

In less than 48 hours in August 2023, the McDougall Creek wildfire tore across a large area of the Westside, destroying homes and other structures on close to 200 properties.



Large prescribed burn planned next week for grasslands north of Merritt

300-plus hectares to burn

Smoke may be visible to Nicola Valley residents as the BC Wildfire Service intends to take up a prescribed burn 33 kilometres northeast of Merritt next week.

The BCWS, in partnership with the Upper Nicola Band and Upper Nicola Fire Department, will be conducting the 314-hectare burn starting March 11 until mid-April — or until the grassland is too green to burn.

The work will be dependent on local weather and venting conditions, and burning will not be done unless conditions are favourable, the BCWS stated in a press release.

BCWS said smoke may be visible to residents in the Douglas Lake area.

The goal of the prescribed burn is to reduce build-up of dead grass, and promote the growth of traditional foods. The project also aims to support community protection through the removal of fire fuels while providing cross-training opportunities for the band fire department and BCWS.



Two Central Okanagan regional parks may not reopen in 2024 due to wildfire damage

Parks might not reopen

Two regional parks in the Central Okanagan might not reopen this year, or may only partially reopen late in the season.

Last summer’s Grouse Complex wildfires, including the McDougall Creek, Walroy Lake, Clarke Creek and Glen Lake wildfires forced the closure of more than half of the regional parks in the Central Okanagan. Four sustained significant damage.

While the RDCO says Raymer Bay and Traders Cove regional parks are slated to be back open to the public next month, the wait for Rose Valley in West Kelowna and Stephens Coyote Ridge in Glenmore is going to be longer.

At this point, the two parks are closed indefinitely while the RDCO awaits pending assessment of the hazards, like danger trees and ash pits, that remain and the work that needs to be done to make the parks safe. However, there is a chance Rose Valley and Stephens Coyote Ridge might be partially reopened late in 2024.

The regional district says the parklands require significant technical assessment, salvage work, infrastructure repairs and ecological restoration. Along with checking for dangerous trees, soil erosion and landslide risk, infrastructure has to be repaired, archeological site evaluation might need to be undertaken and the water quality will be assessed.

RDCO released its seasonal park program guide this week, noting the four closures.

There are still plenty of other sites to visit in the Central Okanagan, including Mission Creek Regional Park, where a new exhibit at the Robert Hobson Environment Education Centre celebrates the park’s 50th anniversary.

“We are proud of the variety of programming available to visitors this spring. With new multi-generational outdoor trail walks, a Spanish program about trees and mobility support through C.R.I.S. Adaptive, our programs are unique to the region and responsive to the needs of our residents,” says Isabella Hodson, RDCO Parks community relations and visitor services supervisor.

The parks program guide is available online at rdco.com/parksguide and programs are listed in the RDCO calendar. While most programs are free, advanced registration is required. Outdoor programs run rain or shine.



More collaboration, initial attack needed during wildfire season say presenters at Shuswap fire forum

Local help in wildfire fight?

A controlled burn caused destruction in the North Shuswap region last summer, and now collaboration with locals and greater emphasis on initial attack is needed to ensure history doesn’t repeat itself.

That was the message more than 100 people heard at the public forum Wednesday called Shuswap Firestorm, held at Thompson Rivers University's Clocktower Theatre, where four speakers presented their thoughts on the wildfire suppression effort in the Shuswap last year.

Host Jim Cooperman, an author, environmentalist and Shuswap advocate, accused the BC Wildfire Service of gross negligence in its decision to ignite a controlled burn on the Adams Lake wildfire, which was fanned by a windstorm before properties were torched in the Scotch Creek area.

He also said rigid enforcement of evacuation orders failed to recognize the skills, capacity and efforts of the hundreds of residents who stayed back to fight the fires.

“It’s been a very traumatic year,” Cooperman told the crowd.

“Last year was nasty and we certainly don't want to see another year like last year, and in order to try to prevent another year like last year, we have been promoting change to how fires are fought.”

Suggestions from presenters

The crowd also heard from Allan Willocks, a former Ontario fire director and current Okanagan resident. Willocks suggested the BCWS put greater emphasis on the initial attacks on wildfires, noting the quick response municipal fire departments aim for when attending fires.

Willocks suggested the BCWS commit to attacking wildfires located within 30 kilometres of communities using air tankers and initial attack crews within just two hours of their detection. He also stressed the need for immediate collaboration with local contractors and communities.

“BCWS cannot do this by themselves — I emphasize that 100 times,” Willocks said. “You guys know they can’t, and they really are just kids, a lot of them from university.”

Willocks said a policy of fighting fires from dusk to dawn should be in place and an independent peer review of the BCWS handling of last summer’s wildfires should be conducted, along with a review conducted from their clients — the residents of the North Shuswap.

Karl Bischoff, a North Shuswap rancher and logger with many years of experience fighting wildfires, also spoke to the crowd. He was also one of the residents on the ground trying to save homes during the fires, and got emotional multiple times Wednesday as he described those efforts.

He suggested that when short on manpower, the BCWS call upon local fire departments to train volunteers to act as rapid response teams to handle small spot fires.

“We can come as we want, we can leave anytime we want,” Bischoff said. “There's no strings attached, and we do it for free.”

Petition with over 3,000 names

Cooperman also discussed a petition he delivered to Premier David Eby on Feb. 15 calling for a public inquiry into the Shuswap wildfires and reforms to forest management and wildfire protocols.

He said the petition now has about 3,300 signatures.

Cooperman accused the BCWS of having an over-centralized command structure, failing to attack wildfires hard and fast, lacking adequate air attack resources for initial wildfire attacks, being unable to effectively manage heavy equipment, refusing to utilize local resources, initiating counterproductive evacuation orders and inappropriately using planned ignitions.

In his petition, Cooperman suggest solutions to these problems — having the province re-focus wildfire suppression on initial attacks, utilize local resources, minimize the use of out-of-province firefighters in favour of establishing more wildfire crews within B.C., directly contact all forestry heavy equipment operators and re-establish a fire warden system.

CSRD director stresses speed in evac

Columbia Shuswap Regional District director Jay Simpson described the evacuation effort during the fires as “a bit of a shitshow.”

Simpson, who stayed in the Shuswap to help during the fires, said it is not a quick process to get an evacuation order in place, noting the chair of the regional district board of directors has to sign off on it before it can be implemented.

“The way that things are done is not set up to make things quick or easy. And even when the decisions are made, it still takes a while for those decisions to be actually put into effect,” Simpson said.

He said the alert went out on an app and claimed many people missed that message and did not receive the evacuation order right away.

“That's another kind of step in the process that delays action,” he said.

Simpson also said that by the time the order came through there were flames around the Scotch Creek Bridge and many people had to drive east where they were met with backroads that were hard to navigate.

“It's just, again, a shitshow,” Simpson said.

In another example of the slow process, Simpson described his experience in which the CSRD was going to evacuate people via boat and he offered to help out with his craft, but when he attended officials were still trying to get people organized.

“We’re going to learn so much from this, I hope,” Simpson said. “I hope we [CSRD] make some changes.”



More Wildfire articles



232391