523 replies to this topic

[max.bravo]

If the pipeline is at risk due to the forest fire, the owner of the pipeline has really F’d up. Since that’s the Government of Canada, that wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

They’re responsible for maintaining a 300m vegetation buffer.

Pg. 20 https://docs.transmo...Jan-21-2021.pdf

Attached Images

• 

[AllseeingEye]

Looking and sounding very much like the township of Jasper - of all places, and in the middle of one of the crown jewels of the Canadian national park system - may be done and burned to the core by daylight unless something miraculous occurs to prevent it. Horrific. What a terrible, awful sight. Right now watching news video and seeing images like this I think I'm filled with equal parts anger and sadness.

[max.bravo]

I think everyone is familiar with the look of those huge BC Hydro cut lines. That’s the kind of fire break that should surround Jasper (and Lytton; and every other city we’ve lost to this stupidity every year).

This tragedy was entirely preventable by designing more favourable conditions for when inevitable interface fires occur.

Edited by max.bravo, 24 July 2024 - 08:40 PM.

[Nparker]

I think everyone is familiar with the look of those huge BC Hydro cut lines. That’s the kind of fire break that should surround Jasper (and Lytton; and every other city we’ve lost to this stupidity every year)...

Agreed. Much like the opioid mess, why are we still following the same failed procedures that have lead to so much destruction in the recent past? If I were slightly more cynical I would almost say these sort of disasters are part of the plan to keep the population in a perpetual state of fear about the so-called climate crisis.

[dasmo]

How about we increase our capacity to fight fires? Instead of rainbow sidewalks and misting stations and old bars? It’s exactly like the COVID debate. We went into that with hospitals at 110% capacity and spent $1,000,000,000,000 without building any new medical capacity…. We actually reduced it.
This isn’t nature’s fault.

[max.bravo]

@Nparker I don’t think you need DEWs to account for the wildfire situation when we’ve spent the last 150 years making our forests ticking time bombs. But I’m with ya…

Edited by max.bravo, 24 July 2024 - 08:59 PM.

[max.bravo]

How about we increase our capacity to fight fires? Instead of rainbow sidewalks and misting stations and old bars? It’s exactly like the COVID debate. We went into that with hospitals at 110% capacity and spent $1,000,000,000,000 without building any new medical capacity…. We actually reduced it.
This isn’t nature’s fault.

Bruh. Keep up. Fighting fires is what landed us in this mess in the first place!

[dasmo]

$175 million out of $1.3 billion for fire. Only $25 million in new equipment.

Budget 2024 provides $1.3 billion for new measures to help mitigate and better respond to the impacts of climate emergencies, build a cleaner economy, and address the challenges people are facing right now.

https://www.bcbudget... season in 2023.

[dasmo]

Bruh. Keep up. Fighting fires is what landed us in this mess in the first place!

Nah. I had a good chat with a fire chief. He confirmed to me one problem is the change in the 90s to not fighting them creates problems. Fire is natural. But we as humans have also been controlling them forever too. Lots of forest management creates problems too. Glyphosate spraying is one. Kills the natural fire suppression and dries the remaining vegetation.

Bottom line is we pay our government for this service. We have been suffering from devastating fires close to residential areas fore a while now. Let’s stop spending more on subsidized heat pumps than fire fighting infrastructure. We should be able to respond at scale and fast to wildfires close to urban areas. Simple. Cut the $40 million in heat pump subsidies and buy more aerial fire fighting crafts. Station them close to urban centres.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think everyone is familiar with the look of those huge BC Hydro cut lines. That’s the kind of fire break that should surround Jasper (and Lytton; and every other city we’ve lost to this stupidity every year).

 

This is correct.  They can be wonderful parks too.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 July 2024 - 11:42 PM.

[dasmo]

https://www.facebook...mibextid=WC7FNe

[Mike K.]

While we try to reinvent the wheel, why aren’t we addressing what happened in Sooke? It’s a human caused fire. Someone is responsible.

Near Sooke yesterday evening a homeowner sparked a lawn fire while mowing his lawn. Tons of resources were dispatched and the fire was under control soon after but it had started to spread fast. That is the proverbial fire break you guys are referring to.

[Mike K.]

J. Howick supplied photo.

Someone was having a campfire this morning along Dallas Road. Next to the ocean, no trees. It’s the best case fire break scenario, and it could have burned down a neighbourhood.

I just don’t think you guys know what you’re talking about. You’re cherry picking scenarios and talking about solutions that you think are applicable but may not be.

Fire doesn’t care about your fire break.

[Victoria Watcher]

I think you assume a fire breaks works unattended. That it stops the fire. That’s not how it works. It reduces the fire size at the interface. So local fire can deal with any embers.

South Fairfield has zero wildfire risk. Because the area surrounding it is the firebreak. Just like downtown Vancouver has zero wildfire risk. West Vancouver is exposed.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 25 July 2024 - 06:36 AM.

[Mike K.]

I assume nobody here knows what they’re talking about.

[Mike K.]

How big does your always manned and monitored fire break need to be, exactly?

[Victoria Watcher]

If you can show me any metropolitan centre anywhere in the world that has been wiped out by a wildfire in the past 75 years I’m listening. It’s only small towns. With no fire break.

[Mike K.]

If you can show me any metropolitan centre anywhere in the world that has been wiped out by a wildfire in the past 75 years I’m listening. It’s only small towns. With no fire break.

That’s quite the goal post change.

We’re talking about Sooke, not downtown Vancouver. But downtown Vancouver has Stanley Park, which if it were to burn, it’s not hard to imagine it would spread to buildings.

But tell us, how big does your fire break have to be, to protect communities exposed to forests? That’s what we’re talking about, I thought.

[Victoria Watcher]

I’m trying to explain how a fire break works, whether it be under power lines, next to a small town, or via neighbourhood buildup where 95% of the trees are removed.

You don’t seem to be able to understand.

[Mike K.]

I'm asking an introductory question. How big does your fire break need to be, to stop the spread of a wildfire?

 

What are you asking communities to do, in other words?