Safeguard in the Okanagan and ready to deploy massive water curtain to fight forest fires

Photo: Contributed

Safeguard, an emergency response company which has a massive water system that can turn a dry forest into a rain forest.

All Jeff Kelly needs is a phone call and he can make it rain.

Kelly operates Safeguard, an emergency response company which has a massive water system that can turn a dry forest into a “rain forest.”

Based out of Fort St. John, Kelly and his company are in the Okanagan with their gear, ready to go on a moment's notice.

The company’s firefighting system uses powerful pumps and manifolds to draw huge amounts of water from lakes and rivers that feed high-pressure water cannons which can provide a virtual wall of water.

Kelly said he has enough water cannons to create a water curtain that is 200 feet high by 320 feet wide and up to 20 kilometres long.

The system has the ability to pump more than seven-millions gallons in 24 hours.

A 600-horse power pump forces water through a 12-inch line that feeds 10 water cannons.

“Each one of those water cannons are 1,250 gallons a minute each,” said Kelly. “Those 10 cannons will make a line that is 3,000 feet long. More water always equals less fire.”

And if a longer line is needed, the system can be extended.

“We have some of this equipment in the Okanagan, in the hot spots right now. We have positioned it here in the Okanagan on our own dime anticipating a dispatch.”

The massive water system can provide 7.6 million gallons of water in 24 hours.

“It will turn everything into a rain forest in front of the fire,” he said.

Provincial officials have contacted Kelly to design an unrelated smaller water system for structural protection.

Some structural systems are already in use, but Kelly noted they move only a fraction of the water his system could as they use much smaller water lines.

“Our mass-water systems has not been booked. We have lots of them,” he said Friday morning.

The smaller system uses a four-inch line that provides 500 gallons of water a minute.

Kelly can also use the massive lines and pump system to “feed up to 700 firefighters per water-delivery system.”

“And we are fast. We are set up as a provincial fire department,” said Kelly. “We have built extensive processes on safely, effectively and rapidly rolling out these processes in front of a wildfire.”

While the system does draw a tremendous amount of water, Kelly said environmental issues are taken into consideration such as fish guards at the intakes and other factors.