The need from QC for additional personnel and equipment was still in demand. ..... Command Team specialists and 42 wildfire suppression personnel.
CANADA REPORT 2010
2
CANADA REPORT 2010
The 2010 fire season came-in with a lot of promise. The spring fire season was at it highest that we have seen for a number of years in Canada. Historically, the Maritime Provinces usually lead the way in getting the fire season started but this was not the case this year. Although Nova Scotia (NS) experience some fire activity, it was minimal. We did however see some agencies start the fire season with drought code numbers that you would see in June/July. Alberta (AB), Saskatchewan (SK), Manitoba (MB) and Ontario (ON) all had above normal fires during this past spring. With the high indices many of the agencies had to look at the possibility of bringing their staff on earlier than normal. In contrast, British Columbia (BC) who had a busy 2009 fire season, were happy to the their BC fire situation on May 3, 2010 spring begin slow and wet with over to 40-percent less fire than at the same time last fire season. In April on two occasions, resources were mobilized through the Mutual Aid Resource Sharing (MARS) Agreement. This first was personnel from NS to Parks Canada (PC) and the second was 2 CL-415 from Quebec (QC) to ON. These two mobilization marks one of the earliest movement of resources since CIFFC was first established in 1982. Bi-mid May, with the warmer weather, AB, Northwest Territories (NT), and ON were seeing moderate to high fire hazard buildup. Quebec and PC were also seeing their fire hazard increase. Nationally, we were getting 50-plus fire starts per day and agencies were now looking at hiring additional heliYT crew personnel working on a fire. copter in anticipation in increase in fire starts. With most agencies at Agency Preparedness Level (APL) 2 to 4, CIFFC move to National Preparedness Level (NPL) 2. Both MB and ON had priority wildland fires that required them to assigned Incident Management Team (IMT). By the start of the third week of May, MB, ON and QC were seeing their fire activity increase daily. With having so much potential by various agencies, the availability of resources was minimal. In 2009, BC received assistance from across Canada and they were more than happy in 2010 to reciprocate by exporting 84 Type 1 initial attack fire fighters to ON. With ON experiencing an increase in initial attack fires, the assistance from BC was welcomed. During this same time period, MB was battling a fire that was 17,900 hectares and out of control.
ON personnel receiving briefing in SK.
3
With the increase in fires in QC, the need for specialty type personnel and equipment was required. A PC firing team was mobilized to QC as well as a CL-215 group from MB. With the fire activity being reported, the NPL was upgrade from 2 to 3 with a both ON and QC at APL 4 and looking for resources. Personnel from AB and NB were sent to QC and CL-215 group from AB to ON. As the month of May was ending, the level of activity was continuing in the East. MB largest fire was now over 18,000 hectares. In the west, both the Yukon Territory (YT) and Northwest Territories (NT) were getting their fair share of hot and dry weather.
PC Aerial Ignition Crew in QC.
The following table shows the total number of National Preparedness Level days.
NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS LEVEL DAYS Levels No. of days
1 46
2 65
3 20
4 0
5 0
YT was looking for crews to increase their initial attack capacity and AB was able to assist YT by providing 6 crews. The need from QC for additional personnel and equipment was still in demand. Once again, BC was in a position to respond to QC demand by exporting 60 Type 1 fire fighters, 115 medium pump kits and 2,300 lengths of hose. With the latest personnel movement from BC this brought their total out-of-province assistance close to 350 wildland fire personnel. As June came rolling in, the activity was just starting to pick-up. YT was now at APL 5, and NT at 3 and both ON and QC at 4. Again, QC need for personnel continued, and many of the agencies were experiencing a number of large fires. YT was looking for specialty type personnel. Once again, AB was able to provide the expertise that YT needed. Nationally, we were averaging about 50 fires per NL fire fighter using a drip torch. day. The majority of these fires were lightning caused. The fire danger in ON was being downgraded from high to moderate and this allowed them to demobilized the BC initial attack crews back to BC. With cloudy and wet weather in YT, NT and parts of eastern Canada, this provided a good opportunity to return some of the personnel back to their home agency. By mid-June, only QC was showing some potential for fire activity. Most of Canada was under a low system which brought much needed precipitation. The number of average fires per day in Canada was in the 20 fires range. BC was continuing to experience a below than normal fire activity as compared to the same time period of year ago, as they average around 400 fires and had only 250 plus to date. The same could not be said for NT NB Type 1 fire fighter suppressing fire in QC. who was experience probably an 80-percent increase in fire activity, with two priority fires that required them to mobilize two of their Incident Management Team. Overall nationally when comparing 2009 versus 2010, the fire numbers were essentially identical but the hectares were five times greater in 2010 for this same period the last year. NT, SK, MB, ON and QC all saw their hectares increase. 4
As we continued into June, a number of agencies were still sitting anywhere from an APL 2 to a 4. With AB picking up 150 fires over a three day period, the need for additional airtanker support was requested. Both NT and SK were able to answer to AB request by providing a CL-215 and CV-580 respectively. For MB, the northern part of the province was seeing incredible hot and dry conditions with little to no relief in the near future, which again required for MB to request assistance from ON for initial attack crews. By the third week of June, BC northern half of the province in the Prince George area was experiencing significant fire activity. As well in the northern regions of MB, was at a critical situation with no relief in sight. On June 22, nationally we registered our first 100 plus fire day. Although both BC and MB had potential, it was QC who was still trying to get the upper hand on their fires from May. With so many priority fires, QC was still looking for some assistance with additional personnel and equipment. BC although busy in the Prince George area, was able to provide 5 Type 1 sustained action crews, plus miscellaneous overhead and ON loaned 100 medium pump kits and 2,000 lengths of hose. In addition to providing personnel to QC, BC was also able to assist MB by providing 10 initial attack crews.
The graph shows Type 1 personnel mobilized from 1998 to 2010. 5
The fire in MB that was at just 18,000 hectares in early June, had now grown to over 51,000 hectares. This one fire gave MB all they could handle. The community of Cranberry Portage was put on a voluntary evacuation alert and with value protection as the top priority for MB, the requirement for a value protection unit was requested through CIFFC. CIFFC was able to locate a unit in ON. The unit comes fully equipped along with 3 type 1 crews, a supply unit leader, a strike team leader and a task force leader. The ability to have a complete unit with trained personnel was a huge benefit for MB. As the month was coming to an end, the MB fire in the northwest portion of the province continued to increase in size. As June ended and July started, the fire activity slowed down for most of Canada, this allowed for out-of-province personnel to be returned back to their home agency. With the active months of May and June, for many of the agencies it was an opportunity to give their staff some much needed rest, recycle equipments and get everything ready for the next fire outbreak. By mid-July, BC was starting to see the normal weather pattern to build-up. With increase in temperatures and drying conditions, the possibility for fire starts was increasing. Most of the fires being reported were in the modified response zone so some of them did not require 100-percent suppression on them. On July 18, nationally we saw one of the lowest fire number recorded in the last 24 hour section with only 6 fires reported. By the third week of July, with BC experiencing lighting across the southern portion of the province and the continuing drying trend, this looked like the right formula for numerous fire starts. Over a three day period, BC recorded close to 100 lightning fires. Historically the third week of July has been the start to the most active part of the fire season for BC. With the new starts, BC was starting to see an increase in their priority wildland fires. During this same time period, AB was also seeing their number of daily starts increase but fortunately for AB, none of their fires was escaping their control. The ridge of high pressure seems to be sitting over most of western Canada bringing with it nice and dry weather. Although SK seemed quiet, their fires were in the northern part of the province in their modified response zone. Although they were not suppressing all of their fires they were however heavily involved in values protection. With the increase protecting these values, there was need for additional sprinkler kits and medium pump kits. Both AB and ON responded to SK request to provide sprinkler kits and pump kits.
6
With dry lightning being forecast in BC and with the hot dry weather they were getting, well this was looking like a recipe for multiple fire starts. On July 29, the right combination that had been building in BC became a reality when they reported of 150 fires which 141 were caused by lightning, with over 200 fires reported nationally. With the increase in fires in BC, there was a heavy demand on resources, especially for professional Type 1 initial attack crews. Once again this year as was the case in 2009 for BC, August came in like an escape wildland fire. With all of the new fire starts and the weather conditions being perfect for the potential for fires to be beyond initial attack capability the need for resources were realized. A total of 228 personnel were mobilized to BC from AB and ON, which included three Incident Management Teams, an AT-802 airtanker group and equipment. Also requesting assistance was SK who was looking for some initial attack fire fighters. With the current fire activity in ON, ON was able to provide 40 Type 1 fire fighters and a safety officer. What a start to the month of August. With the situation in QC quiet, they were happy to reciprocate back to BC with providing 70 medium pump kits. With the escalation of movement of resources into BC, BC inquired about the availability of a CIFFC Interagency Resource Representative (IARR). CIFFC was able to provide to BC a CIFFC IARR that would assist the BC Provincial Fire Centre with the mobilization and demobilization of outof-province resources. In total, the CIFFC IARR assisted in BC for a total of 28 days.
The graph provide a comparisons of RRO from 1982 to 2010. 7
The demand for resources from BC continued as an additional 220 Type 1 fire fighters and specialty personnel were sent from AB, ON and QC as well as 15 smoke jumpers from the United States. ON also provided an additional 200 medium pump kits and 4,000 lengths of hose. BC was continuing to experience hot dry weather with the majority of the fire activity being experienced in the Cariboo Chilcoltin area. YT was also receiving hot dry weather but was ON IMT1(Ruuska Team) deployed to Williams Lake, BC. not getting lighting that BC was getting. At it peak, BC had received over 550 personnel, 400 plus medium pump kits and close to 8,600 lengths of hose. Of the 500 personnel, this included five Incident Management Teams Type 1 which included a multi-agency short-team from SK, AB and NT. After thinking that things were starting to stabilize in BC, a resource request for 300 Type 1 sustained action fire fighters was sent to CIFFC. ON was to able to provide 200 of those fire fighters, with the remaining 100 being supplied by both AB and MB. It should be noted, that NT, QC and NL also had come forward with Type 1 fire fighters. BC need for additional resources came about after having multiple interface fires and putting a number of communities on evacuation alert. ON personnel boarding charter aircraft for BC.
As August continued, BC need for additional resources continued. Although the number of new starts was relatively low, with their current weather and many of their fires where showing increase fire behaviour, many of the fires still required resources. The demand for resources continued for BC, with support coming across the country for personnel, equipment and aircraft. Although nationally in August, we only had one day with over 100 fires, it was the number of larger fires that BC experienced at one time. As August came to an end and with the start of September, the need for out-of-province resources came to an end. By September 3rd, all out-ofprovince personnel in BC where returned back to their home agencies. At it peak, BC had over 725 personnel, close to 800 power pumps and 17,000 lengths of hose that were imported through CIFFC.
ON medium pumps ready for export to SK and BC.
In summary, the Coordination Centre processed 130 Resource Request Orders (RRO), which resulted in 2,429 personnel, 26 skimmers, 6 landbased airtankers,1,020 pump kits, 20,780 lengths of hose, 500 sprinkler heads, 1 values protection unit and other miscellaneous equipment. The 2,376 personnel representing 33,978 total person days. Out-of-Province personnel at the Meldrum Complex in BC.
8
AGENCY REPORT SUMMARY ALBERTA The fire season started early for Alberta in 2010, with the snow cover disappearing in early spring and high DC’s as a result of limited precipitation in the fall of 2009, we were getting starts in late February and throughout March. This continued into April in the form of assistance to municipalities outside of the Forest Protection area. Everything was shaping up to be a busy season. Mother Nature divided the province in half, and while AB Arial Ignition Kit to PC there was heavy precipitation and flooding occurring in the southern half of the province, the northern half was getting starts. Although the season was considered slow, Alberta experienced roughly 26% more starts, but was 38% lower area burned than the 10 year average. This year Alberta was a net exporter, with the exception of some airtankers in the spring, never requested any other equipment or manpower. Alberta sent resources to British Columbia, Quebec and the Yukon. Unfortunately, Alberta did have two fatalities this season. A contract Type 1 sustained action crew, while returning to base in their vehicle after working a wildfire lost control of their vehicle, rolled and resulted in two fatalities and one severely injured. To date, Alberta has had 1,785 fires, which are 248 higher than the 5 year average of 1537. Area burnt is 83,680.39 ha compared to the 5 year average of 73,940.07 ha. SASKATCHEWAN Saskatchewan had 570 wildfires to September 21, 2010, in line with the ten-year average of 558 (2001-2010). The total burned area in the province to date is 1,811,750.0 hectares, as compared to a total of 37,776.27 hectares for this date in 2009. The ten year average is 601,453.84 hectares. There were 333 wildfires in the Full Response Protection Zone. The total area burned to date for the year in the Full Response Zone is 15,327.82 hectares (ha). The ten-year average in the Full Response Zone for this date is 137,408.9 ha. The number of human-caused fires to date is 231. Lightning caused 339 wildfires to date. There were 116 wildfires over 100 hectares in all zones combined: 13 in the full response zone and 103 in the modified/observation zones.
SK Type 1 fire fighters arrive in BC
In the Observation Zone and the Modified Response Zone within noncommercial timber areas, wildfire was allowed to play a more natural role on the landscape, with wildfire regenerating 1,796,422.1ha, well above last year’s total of 21,789.44 ha.
9
During the time period of July 31 to August 13, forty-two wildfire suppression personnel from Ontario were brought to Saskatchewan to assist our crews with the northern wildfires. Wildfire equipment was also provided by Ontario. From May 28 to June11, Saskatchewan assisted Alaska via the Northwest Compact Agreement by supplying two CL215 Airtankers and a Baron 55 birddog aircraft, a total of six pilots, three Aircraft maintenance engineers, and two Air Attack Officers for SK - Nisbet Fire 15 days. Between the dates of August 12 to 30, Saskatchewan assisted the British Columbia wildfire effort by supplying an Incident Command Team consisting of six personnel; three Command Team specialists and 42 wildfire suppression personnel. Saskatchewan experienced unprecedented flooding in the southern regions of the province in June and July. Wildfire personnel assisted the city of Yorkton, RM of Good Spirit Lake and the town of Maple Creek with flood clean up.
SK - Smoke from a fire near Prince Albert.
There are a growing number of significant values in the Observation Zone that require protection and the 2010 wildfire season was focused on values protection in the far north of the province as 99% of the area burned in 2010 was in the Modified/Observation Zones. There were 60 wildfires requiring values protection in Saskatchewan in 2010. Values protection unit (VPU) deployment on these and on some full response zone wildfires where applicable to protect values at risk began on May 14 and were used continuously throughout the wildfire season. Saskatchewan deployed approximately 200 VPU on approximately 400 values at risk including:
300 structures (cabins, lodges); 49 vehicles (trucks, boats, canoes, snowmobiles, etc.); and 54 other values (sheds, tents, etc.).
Structures at three commercial locations plus six traditional use structures were burnt by wildfires during the 2010 season. In response to the rapid deterioration of the aerial wildfire fighting fleet, Saskatchewan developed a ten-year aerial fleet renewal plan to update and replace this equipment. Since 2005, Saskatchewan has received approval to SK - Structural protection. spend $137-million towards renewal of the aerial fleet. Currently, fleet renewal is centered on conversion of four CL215 aircraft to CL215Ts, which is being done to improve the safety, reliability and effectiveness of the fleet. The conversions are currently under way and upon completion will provide a fleet of 4 CL215T’s, 2 CL215R’s, 4 CV580A’s, 4 Trackers, 4 Turbo Commanders, and 3 Barons.
10
ONTARIO While it was a busier fire season than the last two seasons, it has remained below the long-term average. The fire season started off early, with warm, dry weather, and an earlier than normal snowmelt. Fire activity across the province started to die down toward the middle of June. The slower than average season in Ontario provided an opportunity to assist other agencies The Ontario Fire Program stayed busy with deployments to Quebec, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories in the months of June and July. ON Fire Rangers 125 years of service to ON and Canada.
In the later part of the season, the program filled resource requests to Saskatchewan and British Columbia. QUEBEC As of October 8, 2010, a total of 696 fires had been recorded for the 2010 fire season. These fires burned 256,785 hectares of woodlands in the intensive protection zone. Although the number of fires this season was slightly above average, the area burned was almost three times that of the 10year average. Human activity accounted for 473 fires, whereas the last 10-year average was 436. Lightning fires were responsible for 97% of the area burned. May and June were the most active months in terms of fire starts and their effects were felt until mid-July. Such an intense fire period calls for additional human resources to not only be able to respond to all fires, but also to allow crews QC representative receiving instruction to get a bit of rest. SOPFEU therefore requested assistance from from BC liaison. its Canadian and New England partners. A total of 727 firefighters from Parks Canada, Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, British Columbia, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the US federal government were deployed to help Quebec crews. Manitoba and Ontario also sent four air tankers. On June 12, there were 3.5 times more personnel working to protect forests than during regular operations, representing a total of 1,689 people. Material resources were also requisitioned. For its part, SOPFEU twice lent CL-415s to Ontario during the spring. In August, 44 firefighters travelled to British Columbia to lend a hand during its major fire situation. Equipment was also lent to British Columbia.
11
NEW BRUNSWICK The 2010 wildfire season in New Brunswick was one of the quietest in History. 177 fires burned 150.3 ha in total. It was also one of the sunniest, warmest and driest fire seasons we have had in many years. There is a lot of conventional wisdom about why we had so few fires but I don’t think we really have any idea why so few fires occurred given the hot dry weather. No fires of any significance occurred. We had one fatality, a long time TBM pilot Ronnie Clowes died after suffering a medical emergency while on a practice mission shortly after take off. The plane crashed very near the airport and both the pilot and aircraft were lost. NOVA SCOTIA The winter of 2009/2010 was very mild, especially in the central portion of the province. While some snow accumulation occurred in western and eastern parts of NS, much of central region was devoid of snow cover in early March. The first fire occurred on March 7 and fires continued daily until March 21. By then, 60 fires burned 348 hectares of the 485 hectares burned to date. Our total number of fires to date is 294, right about average. he rest of the season has been relatively slow fire wise. This year we hired 2 new staff. Last November we hired a Fire Science Officer, Dustin Oikle and a GIS Specialist, James Bruce. These guys have fit in very well with the organization and are more than capable of improving on Fire Management in future. Prince Edward Island There was little snow last winter and there was a very early start to spring on Prince Edward Island. Despite these conditions and a very warm summer, up to September 9th, there were only four forest fires were reported on Prince Edward Island. In total, these fires burned approximately 5.27 ha. The forest fire budget was reduced 10% in 2010-2011. To accommodate this cut, the number of initial attack responders was reduced from 14 to 11.
12
STATISTICS The following table, show that as of December 31, 2010, Canada recorded 7,319 fires and a total area consumed of 3,155,099.82 hectares. The fires reported in the Modified Response account for only 9-percent of the total fires but 73-percent of the total area consumed. WILDLAND FIRE STATISTICS - 2010 FIRES Full
HECTARES
Modified
Total
Full
PRESCRIBED FIRE
Modified
Total
Fires
BC
1,669
9
1,678
271,360
60,148
331,508.00
YT
34
54
88
9.16
146,947.51
146,956.67
AB
1,837
0
1,837
83,642.52
0
83,642.52
NT
95
129
224
151,421.86
182,012.64
333,434.50
SK
330
241
571
13,657.92
1,721,140.88
1,734,798.80
MB
488
95
583
87,512.00
99,982.00
187,494.00
ON
882
49
931
10,522.50
4,301.7
QC
707
30
737
223,357.80
NL
56
5
61
NB
179
0
NS
313
PE PC TOTAL
Ha
20
1,501.62
14,824.20
5
1,247.80
91,526.00
314,883.80
1
30.00
250.80
769.60
1,020.40
4
495.00
179
156.30
0
156.30
0
313
463.06
0
463.06
4
0
4
5.27
0
5.27
77
36
113
291.80
5,620.50
5,912.30
11
2,071.01
6,670
649
7,319
842,650.99
2,312,448.83
3,155,099.82
41
5,345.43
WILDLAND FIRE RELATED FATALITIES Year
86
87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08
09
10
Fatalities
6
3
1
5
3
0
3
4
2
0
2
4
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
2
0
3
3
2
13
WILDFIRE STARTS TOTAL NUMBERS OF FIRES (LIGHTNING AND HUMAN CAUSED) 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Avg.
2010
BC
1,539
1,266
1,781
2,472
2,398
970
2,571
1,437
1817
3,084
1,934
1,678
YT
55
68
69
77
282
83
80
110
67
118
101
88
AB
782
974
1,430
1,191
1,597
1,359
1,938
1,164
1695
1,655
1,379
1,837
NT
275
127
85
160
297
261
166
1,353
241
42
301
224
SK
417
857
878
642
328
322
501
370
599
511
543
571
MB
353
538
754
1,148
234
246
682
364
397
184
490
583
ON
636
1,562
1,114
1,015
431
1,961
2,281
1,015
338
385
1,074
931
QC
516
1,003
895
716
319
1,374
683
935
222
483
715
737
NL
219
202
143
191
153
145
96
87
139
176
155
61
NB
333
490
317
228
240
305
310
282
168
192
287
179
NS
210
486
267
274
258
304
234
392
247
193
287
313
PE
26
34
29
14
20
13
36
8
3
8
19
4
PC
108
107
85
115
90
95
135
64
103
136
104
113
5,469
7,714
7,847
8,243
6,647
7,438
9,713
7,581
6,036
7,167
7,389
7,319
TOTAL
TOTALS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2010 Full Response Fires Modified Response Fires Total
6,670 649 7,319
The graph provide a comparisons 2010 fires versus 10 year average. 14
WILDFIRE HECTARES TOTAL AREA CONSUMED (HECTARES) 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Avg.
2010
BC
17,673
9,677
8,529
264,733
220,468
35,091
135,634
28,704
11,939
229,566
96,201
331,508.00
YT
7,651
17,772
35,700
49,037
1,817,511
170,691
95,033
45,497
18,846
227,057
248,059
146,956.67
AB
14,676
153,459
496,567
55,482
234,764
60,602
118,782
103,177
20,644
66,825.77
132,712
83,642.52
NT
177,814
111,262
27,090
127,822
515,622
224,632
53,398
439,886
353,852
2,056.85
203,343
333,434.50
SK
140,922
183,820
879,583
126,591
258,441
213,524
1,203,722
212,408
1,130,179
37,559.37
MB
86,129
86,199
81,174
430,170
23,117
72,680
166,050
206,924
150,673
2,872
130,599
187,494.00
ON
6,633
10,733
172,512
314,220
1,616
42,308
149,518
40,590
1,314
20,655.70
76,010
14,824.20
QC
39,205
33,068
1,013,749
87,861
3,044
831,022
124,176
349,463
1,481
93,971.70
222,792
314,883.80
NL
148,820
1,275
35,484
36,534
2,362
22,834
3437
11,237
5,140
35,267.20
30,205
1,020.40
NB
336
604
247
237
289
355
507
445
143
249
341
156.30
NS
488
530
212
1,257
291
517
1,576
691
2,719
891.75
917
463.06
PE
29
27
133
12
16
50
51
18
8
3.09
35
5.27
PC
7,538
21,419
7,087
141,134
197,904
32,142
2,768
222,134
4,439
38,429.57
67,499
5,912.30
647,914
629,845
2,758,067
1,635,090
3,275,445
1,706,448
2,054,652
1,661,174
1,701,377
755,405
1,647,438
3,155,100
TOTAL
438,725 1,734,798.80
TOTALS AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2010 Full Response Hectares
842,651
Modified Response Hectares
2,312,449
Total
3,155,100
The graph provide a comparisons 2010 hectares versus 10 year average. 15
Canada Report photos provided by CIFFC Member Agencies and their staff.16
