42 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

$40k cars and million dollars homes? Dude. That’s all of central Surrey.

[lanforod]

Thats pretty much all of the core of Victoria too.

[Mike K.]

There’s a human-caused wildfire on Sidney Island right now. Discovered last night at 9PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Humans always get the blame. How do we know it wasn’t a seagull playing with a magnifying glass?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 September 2022 - 07:17 AM.

[Mike K.]

Human-made magnifying glass, though.

[Victoria Watcher]

For certain?

That’s also like saying guns kill people.

[Victoria Watcher]

Naturally occurring wildfires are most frequently caused by lightning. There are also volcanic, meteor, and coal seam fires, depending on the circumstance. Human caused wildfires can be accidental, intentional (arson) or from an act of negligence.

[Mike K.]

But it’s ok to label the bird a seagull? Lots of assumptions here.

[Victoria Watcher]

I’m sure a crow wouldn’t do it. Crows hate coal mining. Canaries are into it though.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 September 2022 - 07:31 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Premier David Eby says he is “profoundly worried” about the potentially “terrible” upcoming wildfire season, a major reason why the province has set aside $10.6 billion in contingency funds over the next three years.

 

Eby says parts of British Columbia, such as the Peace River, East Kootenay and Upper Fraser regions, remain severely dry, and about 100 wildfires are still burning this winter from last year’s record-breaking fire season.

 

He says they are two factors that contribute to the need for the contingency fund for spending uncertainties in yesterday’s provincial budget.

 

Eby says the province is “standing up an army of firefighters” in preparation for this season’s wildfires, with about 1,000 people already applying to join the wildfire team this year.

 

 

https://www.cheknews...encies-1192305/

[lanforod]

Wow I agree with Eby for once!

[Victoria Watcher]

Where is the money to reduce interface fires?

[dasmo]

So change in policy from leave them be until they are crazy?

[dasmo]

Also the death penalty for arsonists who kill people?

[North Shore]

I can't figure out why 'they' aren't trying to put out those zombie fires now, rather than in the summer when it will be harder and more expensive to do so..

[max.bravo]

This is pure speculation, but I’d guess they are in remote areas where a controlled burn is the best solution anyway, plus their manpower drops to almost nil in the off-season. And Eby merely used those examples as convenient talking points, despite their ongoing burning being much more likely a deliberate decision than anything else.

[Victoria Watcher]

Lowest snowpack in B.C. since 1970 sparks drought, wildfire concerns

 

The low snowpack, combined with warm weather, creates “signficantly elevated” drought hazards for the spring and summer

 

https://www.timescol...oncerns-8583665

 

 

 

 

 

The low snowpack does not guarantee the province will experience a drought this summer. Other factors, such as the rate of snow melt, spring and summer temperatures, and precipitation trends, will also play a role in the likelihood of drought, said Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with the River Forecast Centre.

 

In 2019, the last year when the year’s snowpack was also below normal, the province expected an extreme drought season, Boyd said. “Very late in June, the rains arrived and we had a very cold and wet summer season and unfortunately significant flooding in areas like the Chilcotin,” he said.

 

By contrast, in 2022, when the provincial average snowpack was 165 per cent of normal, there were initially no concerns about drought. But in early July, rain essentially stopped until October, bringing drought conditions, he said.

 

______________________

 

Greater Victoria’s Sooke reservoir is filled by rainfall and is only minimally impacted by snowpack, said CRD spokesman Andy Orr. The reservoir is full, and Greater Victoria residents are unlikely to face anything beyond Stage 1 water conservation restrictions, he said. Stage 1 limits lawn watering to twice per week and watering trees, shrubs and vegetables during specific hours in the morning or evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canada at risk of another devastating wildfire season, federal government warns

 

Officials say forecast of dry, warm weather increases likelihood of fires in coming months

https://www.cbc.ca/n...nment-1.7169287

 

 

 

"It is impossible to predict the summer that lies ahead of us, but what is clear is that wildfires will represent a significant challenge for Canada into the future as the impacts of climate change continue to intensify. And the costs to Canadians are growing every single year," said Harjit Sajjan, the minister of emergency preparedness. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scary headlines aside, that are contradicted or at least put in doubt by the actual senstnces in the article aside, WHAT is Canada doing to better insulate from wildfire interfaces?  It's not rocket science.  We know how to do it, but we refuse to do it.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 April 2024 - 02:56 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

You can now see the remains of Lytton on Streetview:

 

https://www.google.c...i8192?entry=ttu

 

Interestign the buildings that survived.

[Mike K.]

The low snowpack does not guarantee the province will experience a drought this summer. Other factors, such as the rate of snow melt, spring and summer temperatures, and precipitation trends, will also play a role in the likelihood of drought, said Jonathan Boyd, a hydrologist with the River Forecast Centre.

In 2019, the last year when the year’s snowpack was also below normal, the province expected an extreme drought season, Boyd said. “Very late in June, the rains arrived and we had a very cold and wet summer season and unfortunately significant flooding in areas like the Chilcotin,” he said.

There we go.

We can’t armchair quarterback this stuff just by looking at the situation and coming to conclusions.

[Victoria Watcher]

Kelowna’s Rock the Lake music festival has announced this year’s first wave of artists along with a move of dates to earlier in the summer.

 

The three-day festival outside Prospera Place will now take place July 12 to 14, 2024, featuring Tom Cochrane, Theory of a Deadman, Our Lady Peace and 54-40.

 

The event was previously set to take place Aug. 9 to 11, but is being moved to July to avoid the possible impact of the traditional peak of wildfire season.

 

“We understand that many of our most loyal RTL fans have made plans around the previous dates, and we are reaching out to these affected customers directly,” said Mike Strawn, VP and general manager of sports, media and entertainment for GSL Group.

 

“The choice to move the dates was not an easy one, however, we are fully invested in this community and event, and we feel we needed to make this change to set this festival and community up for success.”

 

Rock the Lake’s date change is a part of a growing trend by event organizers, who are avoiding the month of August due to the possibility of evacuations or thick wildfire smoke. The Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival also moved to July this year.

 

Rock the Lake’s 2023 edition, Aug. 11-13, narrowly avoided the catastrophic impacts of the McDougall Creek wildfire that sparked Aug. 15.

 

 

https://www.castanet...change-of-dates

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 11 April 2024 - 09:00 AM.