The fire danger picture on Salt Spring can be complicated, according to officials, but as the boundary of an “extreme” alert crept south to cover the island before the weekend, residents and visitors were warned fires can start and spread quickly now –– and may be difficult to contain.
More than 250 wildfires were burning across the province going into the weekend, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS), and with no rain in sight for the Gulf Islands, firefighters are expecting the likelihood of new fires starting will only rise.
The “extreme” fire danger rating, which officially includes all of Salt Spring and the Southern Gulf Islands as of 2 p.m. Friday, July 19, means the risk of fire is serious; new fires will “start easily, spread rapidly, and challenge fire suppression efforts,” according to the BCWS, which enacted a province-wide ban July 12 on all outdoor burning, including campfires.
Last week islanders experienced widespread smoke from a now-contained bark mulch hog fuel fire at Harmac Pacific’s pulp mill in Nanaimo, according to Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue (SSIFR) officials, who told the fire district board they fielded multiple phone calls of concern.
Residents are encouraged to report smoke regardless, according to deputy fire chief Dale Lundy, even if they think it could be from somewhere else.
“It could be from the Harmac fire, or it could be the shed in your backyard,” said Lundy. “Any calls that we get, we look into.”
Weather can have a significant impact on wildfires –– in how they start, how aggressively they spread, and how long they burn, according to BCWS, which operates about 260 automatic weather stations that update hourly and send temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, wind speed and wind direction data to support fire weather forecasting and the computer-based Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS).
Salt Spring Island has its own station sending weather stats from SSIFR’s Fulford Fire Hall property; data to build forecasts for the island are also drawn from a station near Duncan and another north of Ladysmith. That can lead to multiple danger ratings on different parts of the island, particularly as conditions ramp up or down; as recently as last week, the “extreme” fire danger zone only covered part of the north end of the island, ending on Thursday just south of St. Mary Lake.
The CFFDRS is the primary fire management decision aid in Canada. With it, fire managers can assess the potential for ignition, spread and burning intensity. This information is used for making fire prevention, preparedness and suppression decisions and other general fire management decisions.
Fire danger ratings are updated daily at around 2 p.m. For an interactive map, visit wildfiresituation.nrs.gov.bc.ca/map and for local information on fire restrictions visit saltspringfire.com.