The wildfire season is barely underway, and firefighting crews have already put out more than a dozen fires.
The BC Wildfire Service says April 1 is the official start of the season and, with several active fires across the province, crews are preparing for what could be a destructive couple of months.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!
B.C.’s Interior is likely to get the worst of it thanks to strong winds blowing through local valleys and canyons, and higher temperatures than along the coast.
Crews say that the current drought around the province, likely stretching into its fourth year, is a huge concern.
The early signs of a dry summer are already visible in the Okanagan.
“The snow has come off the valley bottom early again this year. So, we are preparing for an early fire season,” Larry Watkinson, the deputy chief of the Kelowna Fire Department (KFD), told 1130 NewsRadio.
He says that he would not be surprised if the situation heats up quickly, talking from experience about how previous seasons have started and developed.
“Now the green grass is coming up, and we would anticipate that it will be drying out early June or even late May.”
But Watkinson adds that authorities have learned their lessons and made crucial investments.
“We have invested some time and money into localized valley bottom wildfire sensors that give us an understanding and readings of exact details when it comes to indices,” he explained.
“We have a better understanding of what the fuels are doing and how they are going to react in wildfire conditions.”
Watkinson says that coordination among agencies and different levels of government is key.
“We just actually last week had a meeting with all of the local valley municipalities and our partners at the BC Wildfire Service. [We talked about] how we will respond, how agencies are able to respond, what our resources, our training, and our investments look like,” Watkinson explained.
Part of a successful wildfire response is educating homeowners, saying that residents in the Okanagan understand the risks already pretty well and know what wildfires can do when they enter a city.
“Since 2003, and then again in 2023, we have seen a pretty dramatic behavioural change from our locals and our community here in Kelowna,” Watkinson said.
He is referring to one of the most destructive fires the area has seen, the Okanagan Mountain Park fire in 2003.
20 years later, disaster hit again after the McDougall Creek fire ravaged the area.
Equally important is looking out for their neighbours, on the smaller and larger scales.
“If Peachland is under fire conditions, of course, Kelowna is going to use our mutual aid agencies, and we are going to go and support those response efforts,” he added.
