HEAT is beyond believe in the Province of B.C.---

[Smitty]

---that also means by accient humans are accidently starting fires. Right now the worst is just north of Kamloops & when we go back to history of '03 that is when fhe wild forest fires actually missed Kamloops to sweep through the city of Kelowna.

Unfortunately the forestry people cannot get it across to camper to have very, very small camp fires to where some are in non-camp grounds to have forest fires get out of control.

I think of close to Keromes they set up a specific area for forest/archery/fruit growers/ vegitable growers. Not even started more then a few tents only one chap just have to suck in on his fag before he fell asleep to start up a fire there. So now said helpers are complaining because there is no chap for them after the above.

Oh yes it seems going back to the more northern terrain on chopper with a load of water went down killing the chopper pilot. Which brings into mind of how many others were killed in trying to put out the wild forest fire back in '03.

[CielOnTap]

All that non-snow in February and now the heat from the fires, BC is certainly "super natural" right now. I don't know if the trees with the beetle infestation are going to regenerate or just carry on after the fires.

Is your town on any kind of alert, Smitty? You certainly want to be safe if the smoke and heat come to town. You had mentioned that the local resevoir had a low level due to little snow melt this year.

[deja vu]

If you want to eat hot food during your weekend camping trip, make sure to take a portable stove. Campfires will be prohibited in B.C.'s coastal region starting Friday at noon. Hot, dry weather throughout the area necessitated the ban, according to the B.C. Coastal Fire Centre. "It's getting drier all the time," wildfire information officer Rosalie Macaulay said Wednesday. Most of the coastal region is under a high to extreme fire danger rating, she said. The ban will remain in effect until conditions change.


http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Coas ... story.html



The fine will have some thinking twice, but is it enough to stop the one idiot in the bunch that would risk it? Hopefully it is but if not I wonder if the camp grounds have bank machines. It doesn't help that it is in the low 50's at night and that will have a lot wanting a fire to keep warm.

One thing you can count on is that the rangers and police are going to have a very busy long weekend.

[deja vu]

The British Columbia government has issued a wide-ranging campfire ban for most of the province this long weekend in an attempt to prevent new wildfires from breaking out.

Anyone found in violation of the ban may be issued a $345 ticket. And, should a wildfire occur as a result of their actions, violators could face a fine of up to $1 million or spend three years in jail. The province is currently battling a number of stubborn fires in the Kelowna and Kamloops area and some evacuation orders remain in place.


http://www.vancouversun.com/news/millio ... story.html



This announcement will be a shock to some but it's about time the Government cracked the whip. The cost of firefighting is huge and the violaters
should foot the bill. I think it should read a fine up to a million and up to 3 years in jail.

[Smitty]

Such a good point deja vu in having a sensible camper for heated up food products rather then a stupid camp fire.

I see where in one spot some homes were nearly cought on fire, but some of the parents mentioned some of their kids were in the super drie grass. So this might come about as to who started it. Fortunately nothing of falue was cought on fire plus the fire dept were there right off the bat along with some choppers with water buckets to put it all out-----still for some days the Forestry people will have to keep their eyes on that area that burned.

We are looking at the fire starting up just a bit north of Kamloops & well do we remember '03 along with businesses to so many new homes that were burned down.

Well do I remember a solo RCMP constable driving back to a save place with two horses at the side of his patrol car. It was a tight one in those days & do dry this season as well.

Also remember a cattle farmer hauled his horse along in a trailer & then let his dog out to search for the cattle to also spot the hot spots, for he did not want to dare the harm to his horse & its hoofs. There was so much to that big one on '03 then you simply did not forget.

True we have not got the rental of the best Bombareier water bombers with duel turbo engines what came down to rivers or lakes & picked up the water with the red die. All handled by Quebec Crew. I note that Alberta has 4 or 5 of the older model with radial engines & have ordered in ANOTHER six so they will be in better shape.

The Forestry Crews seems to be so much better in prior training, BUT there are a lot of fires. Also one 61 yr old pilot & his helper in his 30s was just killed when his chopper with water bucket crashed. That is small compared for '03 & so it should be with no lossed of lives, businesses, or homes.

Just before Sunday & possibly on Saturday I noted that Sage Messa was on fire. I would give credit to one of the golfers that tossed a life fag. So was wondering, if a few lots south of our gun range with NO SMOKING might be effected for when we did have a fire of the lounge level catch on fire, I received calls from the care-taker & with the excitement to more of an accent I was wondering.

This was due to a power-surge as so many were started up that day. I was probably one of the first to be there along with two RCMP patrol cars, the Foresty People & finally some members. We we left between our town of Summerland to the small city of Penticton as being in the Okanagan Water Safety Board------so it was our sweat.

Fortunately we were able to throw out all the wooden tables, wooden chairs, to chesterfields that were hand-me-downs, to you name it including electronical gear for a Cdn Firearm Safety Course to Hunting License Course.

All our waterproof wallboard, to ceilings, to so much more & the electrocally system had to be replace. We had this one lovely painting we had been handing onto back in the 60s. This was the work of one of the better painters & was like more then 6' to also 4' & we loved it for it as moose terrian so were ducks bobbing around to you name it.

The insurance people valued it at $50.00 only I stood up & pointed out this was valuable painting. Fortunately photos were still avaliable & sure enough it was valued at $26,000.00 which was even more then all the other goodies up there.

Fortunately due to POWER SURGES to start up the fire and not lightening our insurance covered us. Of interes our indoor h/gun range, below, was not effected. Though the RCMP were asking me where we stored our ammo only to point out we reloaded out spent center-fire rounds at home & along with rim-fire brought the ammo to the range. They would not believe me untill I pointed out the various calibers of h/guns I shot & carried to the range along with tools, protretctive glasses, ear plug, tools to targets. Even took them to my SUV to see the EXTRA targets I carried just in case to no h/guns & the rest.

[deja vu]

The battle to contain wildfires in British Columbia turned deadly this weekend, as two crewmen were killed when their waterbomber crashed Saturday near Lytton. The bomber, a Convair 580 owned by Abbotsford-based Conair, went down outside the town of Lytton, about 260 kilometres up the Fraser River from Vancouver.


http://www.vancouversun.com/news/dead+a ... story.html


I don't know if the new laws have a provision of what to do if someone starts a wildfire and a person dies.

[Smitty]

You are right deja vu, & on some other spot I said it was a high profile wing with four engines WHEN the media kept on showing such an amphibious water bomber like he Martin Mars. Which we have seen in these fires since back in past 20 or more yrs.

Mind you this was basically because they were in a tight gully with some strange winds. Also back in '03 we lost a chopper in the same place.

More ground crews coming from some other places & they will need more choppers to ALSO the Liberal B.C. Provincial Govt should have ordered in some of the Bombaredier water-bombers instead of wasting money on the Winter Olympics that we are just finding out about now, as being such a rip off to tax payers. After all Alberta has four of them & have just ordered another six showing they have aimed tax dollars in the correct manner instead of our B.C. Primer of a Liberal Govt., that LOVES parties, booze, to lots of facial photos.

[Smitty]

Of interest Russia has wild forest fires as well. Fortunately they can simply put anyone to work through their Communistic system.

[CielOnTap]

I understand that the smoke from the Russian fires is hanging heavily over Moscow and area and also causing the air particle count to be about 5-6 times higher than is safe for anyone with respiratory issues.

Let's see if I can locate any firefighting coverage for Russia:

Environmentalists Blame Fires on Policies
03 August 2010
By Alexandra Odynova
As the death toll from wildfires rose to 40 on Monday, environmentalists accused the government of shortsighted policies that have hindered firefighting efforts, and people hoping for quick money let their homes go up in flames.

President Dmitry Medvedev declared a state of emergency in seven areas: the Moscow, Vladimir, Ryazan, Voronezh and Novgorod regions, as well as the republics of Mordovia and Marii-El.

Smoke from the Moscow region fires blanketed the capital in thick smog.

But firefighters seemed to be making progress, with fires covering 125,000 hectares, compared with 128,000 hectares on Sunday, Vladimir Stepanov, a senior Emergency Situations Ministry official, said in televised remarks.

Environmentalists said the consequences of the fires are so dire because a centralized woodland-fire control system was canceled by the 2007 Forest Code, a law lobbied by timber-processing companies and signed by then-President Vladimir Putin.

"Formerly, each forest had a man who would discover fires at an early stage," Alexei Yaroshenko, a forestry expert at Greenpeace Russia, told The Moscow Times.http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/environmentalists-blame-fires-on-policies/411559.html