Report says carbon from transport truck likely caused 2015 Joe Rich Wildfire

The Huckleberry wildfire was one of the big fires of 2015. It broke out in early July along highway 33 near the Eight Mile hairpin in Joe Rich.

In the end, no homes were lost and the finger pointing began on the cause.

“A lot of people have been speculating that it must have been a cigarette. We have to keep an open mind about that. There are other potential causes along the roadside. Even a vehicle in disrepair can blow out a piece of hot carbon out of the exhaust,” said Fire Information officer, Dale Bojahra shortly after the fire was extinguished.

And that’s the conclusion of an extensive investigation by the Ministry of Forests obtained through an access to information request by Global Okanagan.

Its report rules out a cigarette as the possible cause, saying:

“The relative humidity at the time of ignition was above the threshold for cigarette ignitions. Therefore, a discarded cigarette could not have caused wildfire K50261,” the government report said.

The investigation then turned to the possibility the fire was sparked by the exhaust of a vehicle, specifically hot carbon fragments coming from the high tail pipe of a transport truck:

“The location of the ignition area would require a higher trajectory point and suggests that exhaust carbon from a passing transport truck is the most probable cause of wildfire K50261,” the report said.

Charlie Potter almost lost his home in the fire. He’s somewhat relieved to find out the cause wasn’t a cigarette, but at the same time a little uncomfortable learning that it might have been a transport truck because hundreds pass by his place every day.

“At the same time a little scary that something like that could start a fire,” said Potter.

But not everyone is convinced it was a transport truck. Mike Wakelin works for a local trucking company called Inland Kenworth in West Kelowna. He has his doubts.

“I would like to see more of the scientific side on how they came up with that — to try and convince me because I don’t think I could be convinced that easily,” said Wakelin.

The B.C. Trucking Association also has its doubts on the findings of the report. It has contacted two engine manufacturers and said they dismissed the conclusion that a transport truck likely caused the fire. The association says it plans on following up with the authors of the report to find out more.