More than 100 fires have ignited in the Kamloops Fire Centre so far this year.
While that may seem like a high number, there is a silver lining.
“We’ve had 170 fires in the region. And of those 170 fires, approximately 135 have been under one hectare in size. So that’s a significant portion of the fires that have been successful at that smaller size,” said Kamloops fire information officer Taylor Wallace.
In B.C., 1.26 million hectares have already burned, compared to a 10-year average of 83,000 ha.
In the Okanagan, however, crews have been quite successful in keeping most fire starts to under one hectare.
Keeping the fires small has much to do with how crews are tackling the blaze as well as the way the public is reporting them.
“We’re able to have lots of reports of fires as well which is really helpful, especially when folks use our wildfire app and they upload a photo,” said Wallace.
“That’s very helpful for our operational staff when they’re assessing and getting a better understanding of the situation, and that helps them decide what kind of resources can be sent right off the hop.”
According to BCWS, the way the fire service is utilizing its members is making for more efficient response times.
“It is very important for crews to be stationed across the fire centre at their various bases. It allows us to have a quick response to fires and be prepared and ready for those reports to come in,” said Taylor.
Provincially, BCWS is sending out resources to certain areas, based on different factors.
“Due to the number of new starts in such a short period, because of the lightning, our regional teams are prioritizing response based on protecting human life, community, property and infrastructure,” said provincial fire information officer Sarah Budd.
“Advanced planning is part of what we do, moving resources to where they’re going to be needed and our forecasters are really good, so that’s definitely part of the work of planning for what’s to come.”
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