How has fire management changed 10 years after Kelowna fire?
Posted April 2, 2013 3:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
KELOWNA (NEWS1130) – This summer marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating wildfire near Kelowna that destroyed hundreds of homes and sent over 45,000 people packing.
The 2013 Western Wildfire Conference, hosted by the Western Silvicultural Contractors’ Association, will discuss how fire management has changed in the province since the 2003 devastation.
John Betts with the WSCA says the problem is that the forests have become drier and a lot more dangerous thanks to the mountain pine beetle.
“We are seeing fires of increasing frequency, severity, and intensity. These are fires that we have not been typically experiencing in the past so this is of great concern for everyone,” says Betts.
Experts from Canada, the US, and Australia will brainstorm the best ways to prevent another catastrophe and look into fuel management, treatment costs, and the politics of forest fire policy.
“Suppression we’re learning is certainly necessary but it isn’t the answer in the sense that once these unmanageable fires get going. There is not a lot we can do,” he explains.
Betts is already stressing about what this year could bring. “I worry about every fire year. I even worried last year in 2012 when we had a relatively easy fire year. To me that’s just another year of fuel building up for the next fire year.”
Since 2003, many other communities have suffered similar losses.
Some of the worst include Australia’s 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires that killed 173 people, Alberta’s 2011 Slave Lake Fire that destroyed almost half the town and this year’s Waldo Canyon ‘super fire’ which was the most destructive in that state’s fiery history.
