WATCH: John Hua with a behind-the-scenes look at how the Kamloops Fire Centre is getting ready for wildfire season
Some people might think it’s crazy to start a fire in hot conditions, but for the Kamloops Fire Centre it’s essential to tackling the upcoming wildfire season.
Firefighters set up a so-called control zone where they start a blaze to measure things like temperature, wind speed, and humidity to see how quickly flames can spread in the area.
“It’s great practice for us just to get out there into the field and work alongside the fire and putting it out,” said Initial Attack Crew Leader Adam Buchanan.
The control zone fire helps crews devise a game plan for battling a blaze, things like how many people they need on the ground and what kind of a perimeter to set up around a fire.
It’s been a warm and dry start to wildfire season, seeing near-record numbers in terms of hectares burned for May and June. Meteorologists say the warm, dry weather is likely to continue.
“It’s definitely going to be an interesting season for the Kamloops Fire Centre,” said Fire Information Officer Kelsey Winters. “Typically we say we depend on the June rains and we haven’t seen those rains so far this year. We’re going to depend on the public to be very careful with their outdoor fire use and make sure our crews are ready for it.”
-with files from John Hua
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