BC Declares State of Emergency

[dj_patm]

Damn Global Warming causing lightning.



People seem to forget that BC and Alberta are very big and mostly covered in forest.

[Xtrema]

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Uhhggg.... Andrew Weaver (Green) is using the Fires as an excuse to push his climate change agenda

He made a statement yesterday that people affected by the fire should "wake up"

According to my record, voting in NDP government is leading cause of catastrophic forest fires. We are 2/2 so far.

[Sugarphreak]

....

[ExtraSlow]

More like fifty years of fire surpression.

[adam c]

Gotta be more than 5 years

[Brent.ff]

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More like fifty years of fire surpression.

or 100..

Really, either it was going to be pine beetle, fire, or a combination of both that was going to deal with the issues that people had caused through forestry and fire control. Monoculture forests with limited age diversity..global warming won't help, but we've put ourselves in this spot. Unfortunately we have a lot of cities now being bordered by boreal and interior forests..

Feel shitty for people losing their homes..but those forests will be far more resilient to fire in the future..

[Masked Bandit]

Has anyone been through the Columbia Valley area (Fairmont / Radium) in the last few days? We're supposed to be out that way in a couple weeks.

[rage2]

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Has anyone been through the Columbia Valley area (Fairmont / Radium) in the last few days? We're supposed to be out that way in a couple weeks.

No fires around there, just deal with smoke which changes hourly. No different than what we're seeing in Calgary right now.

[JfuckinC]

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No fires around there, just deal with smoke which changes hourly. No different than what we're seeing in Calgary right now.

Heading out there this weekend, hope its not bad. The Verdant creek fire in Kootenay Park is getting close to sunshine village... hopefully they can contain it or get some rain so it doesn't threaten that area..

[R-Audi]

I think there was a small fire by Canal Flats, but believe its out now. Is still a little smokey out there...

http://www.terravistabc.com/webcam

[ExtraSlow]

I'm in invermere this week, and yeah, no fires, but smoke. It's quite variable hour to hour. Was really bad Monday for a few hours, but right now I'd call it moderate.
Screws up the view bit not much else.

[dj_patm]

Plans to go to Vernon in the first week of August are still on.

My friends family who we're staying with are saying that it's just smokey like Calgary. Surprising since the fires are pretty close. Hopefully that holds (or improves).

[e31]

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..but those forests will be far more resilient to fire in the future..

Maybe the already burnt portions; but these lands are now more susceptible to other devastating effects like landslide, flash flooding, and increased particulates in the waterways.

Historically speaking, forest fires took place regularly and with enough frequency to remove excessive combustibles at the ground level. Relatively speaking, these fires did not fully engage all fuel in the area, a lot of times leaving the canopy and root systems intact. Now we've got a fuel buildup that's contributing to larger hotter fires that now envelop all aspects of the forest. When the roots are burned to ash, there is nothing left holding that material to the hill anymore.

[JRSC00LUDE]

Smoke set into North Van/Pemberton/Whistler areas yesterday/Monday...

[Sugarphreak]

...

[Brent.ff]

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I am pretty sure that isn't true, everything I've learned in forestry studies is that fire on a massive scale like this is part of the natural lifecycle. I've never heard of fires burning below the canopy regularly at all. There are even historical accounts of the skies London going dark from massive fires burning in Canada. I also disagree that forest fires result in landslides and flooding, usually the old root systems remain in place more than long enough for new saplings that spring from the fire roasted cones to take hold.

An example would be one of the earliest recorded fires like the Miramichi Fire in 1825, nearly 200 years ago. It consumed 1,553,993 Hectares of the Miramichi region in New Brunswick. No climate change... just normal forest fire cycles.

Certainly fire suppression does make it worse though. Fire is needed to remove bug infestations and disease, without it, the forest just turns into kindling.

Modern clear cuts are actually a good way to help though, they are actually modeled after forests fires. Remove the trees, then they typically leave a few standing to attract any infestation bugs and torch it later on. Clear cuts see very healthy forests grow from them, and new growth is far more resilient to large fires passing through. People that protest clear cuts are stupid fucking idiots.

I'm not going to get in the clear cut debate, but saying it is a 'good way to help' is hilarious at best, and apparent that you've been drinking the logging koolaid. if you mean good as in it removes a potential fuel source to protect humans, sure.. as an alternative to fire for forest ecology...hardly. We wouldn't have the bug infections to the extent we did in the first place had it not been for fire suppression and logging practices that caused monocultures. If you've never heard of fires burning below canopy, youre not giving me much faith on your experience. Most douglas-fir forests are (or at least, were) characterized by surface fires that never turn into a crown fire.. Hell, pointing at pine beetle as causing additional fire is unlikely: "Results were consistent across a range of fuel moisture scenarios. Our results suggest that mountain pine beetle outbreaks in Greater Yellowstone may reduce the probability of active crown fire in the short term by thinning lodgepole pine canopies"

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...10-1176.1/full


He is also correct that if a fire has enough intensity, it can burn through the roots and cause additional issues such as much slides and sedimentation. Short-term bad, but potentially long term good for the ecology of the region (I took a fire ecology course this spring that was examining this). But again the reason we're getting these bigger fires is extended fire suppression. Had small fires been allowed to deal with ground cover, we wouldn't be at the same level of risk.

[revelations]

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. People that protest clear cuts are stupid fucking idiots.

Not quite, there was a LOT of abuse and bad practices by the giant forest corporations for 50 years. The 80s and 90s protestors definitely helped shape the change - however, minor clear cuts, in select areas, can certainly help with fire hazard.

Also, historically, there were both minor AND major fires.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[firebane]

http://aqicn.org/city/canada/alberta/calgary-northwest/ - Current 155

http://berkeleyearth.org/air-quality...57.82566#links

[Brent.ff]

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There are a ton of 2nd and 3rd growth forests throughout BC that area thriving though, and they stand as an example of how logging can be a renewable resource that is good for the environment in the face of fire suppression.

Again, thriving in what way and what do you mean good for the environment. You seem to be mistaking 'good for the environment' as 'good for the forestry companies'. Having a monoculture stand that has been created through extensive logging has been proven time and time again to be less resilient to climate change, fire, and any other disturbance events (beetles, etc).

Well that is a complete and utter load of crap because the pine beetles infestation that swept through BC usually kills the entire tree. Most of the areas affected were left with areas of nothing but dead standing timber

I am definitely not drinking loggers koolaid, I only sip from the ice cold waters of truth... you are clearly drinking hippy juice on the other hand, and I think they peed in it.

It's fairly apparent you don't understand basic fire behaviour, and choose to ignore peer-reviewed science. Yes, it kills the whole tree, but when the tree dies it has less canopy bulk density as well as lower fuel loads. Read the link, learn something..or keep your head in the sand