Fire prevention in the Columbia Valley

Although forest fires can devastate our natural environment at any time of the year, late spring, summer and fall are the seasons of most concern in the Columbia Valley region. In our area, ‘fire season’ runs from approximately early May until early October. Our normally hot, dry summers render the forests and grasslands tinder dry and highly vulnerable to catastrophic fires, generally keeping firefighters busy throughout the season.

The Columbia Valley is part of the Southeast Fire Centre, headquartered in Castlegar, with bases in Cranbrook, Invermere, Golden, Nelson, Grand Forks and Revelstoke. The 18 million acres (8 million hectares) it services contain every kind of terrain -– from steep ground and heavy timber in the north Columbia to the grasslands of East Kootenay, the mixed fuel types and mountainous regions of West Kootenay and the semi-arid rangeland of South Boundary -– and each requires different fire-fighting techniques and tools.

The Southeast Fire Centre responds, on average, to more than 500 fires each year and statistics show that approximately half of them are caused by human activity, the other half by lightning.

The British Columbia Forest Service is calling on residents and visitors alike to take every precaution to prevent fires. If you are camping in our wilderness areas this summer, please remember a few tips to ensure that you leave the forest in the healthy, beautiful condition in which you found it:

• Your campfire must be no larger than a half metre wide by a half metre high. Smaller is better.
• If there is no fire pit, make a ring of rocks at least 3 metres from any trees.
• Maintain a fireguard by removing flammable debris such as leaves, twigs, etc. from the campfire area.
• Never leave your campfire unattended.
• Keep a shovel or at least 8 litres of water nearby with which to properly extinguish your fire before you leave.

Many forest fires are caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette butt. Make sure that cigarettes are completely extinguished before throwing them away.

With the exception of campfires, all open fires, including fireworks and burning barrels, are prohibited within the Southeast Fire Centre during the sping-to-fall period of fire restrictions. During particularly bad fire seasons, sometimes even campfires are banned.  Wherever local government bylaws are in place, they take precedence so make sure you check with your regional district, local municipality or fire department regarding these bylaws.

If you do spot a fire, immediately contact the fire service and leave the area. Fires spread quickly. The 24-hour fire reporting line is 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on most cellular networks. Leave a message, reporting the location of the fire.

According to the ministry, anyone “lighting larger fires, or more than two fires of any size, must comply with burning regulations and obtain a burn registration number” by calling 1-888-797-1717.

For the latest information on fire activity, bans and restrictions as well as current fire-weather conditions, please visit the Wildfire Management Branch website at http://www.bcwildfire.ca

For Facebook and Twitter updates as well as details about evacuation orders and alerts, road conditions, and air quality advisories, please visit http://www.bcforestfireinfo.gov.bc.ca

The Ministry of Forests and Range has a fire photo gallery at http://bcwildfire.ca/MediaRoom/Photos/Fires/index.htm