ON THE CUTTING EDGE

 “FIRE”

 By John Hebert

  The year 2003 will be long remembered in British Columbia as one of the driest summers ever experienced. Many homes have been destroyed and families will need to rebuild what was lost. I have been part of many debates, and will continue to be for some time as to how the fires were attacked. Many feel that some fires were not attacked aggressively and more could have been done to put them out in the first hours of lighting.

  I fought forest fires for two summers several years ago and experienced first hand how quickly a forest fire can become an uncontrollable monster. When lightning strikes and starts a fire in a remote location, many hours may pass before a first response crew is able to get to it. If the terrain is very steep and rocky not much can be done by a ground crew armed with hand tools and a few gallons of water to bring it under control.

  If available, the best choice may be attack from the air, but air tankers and helicopters typically do not fly at night or during strong winds due to safety reasons. This may give the fire a chance to grow to several hectares in size especially if a wind is pushing it. Some of the fires this summer traveled as much as 1 kilometer in 5 minutes and some of the hot embers were traveling up to several kilometers.

  Some people have reportedly commented, “firefighters could have done more” or “why did they pick that house to save and not mine?” Even though some of the people fighting the fires also lost homes and continued to try to save others... they were not just sitting on a stump roasting marshmallows!

  Incredibly “humans” continue to throw their cigarette butts into the dry grass out the windows of their vehicles lighting fires on the roadside. I’ve also heard stories of people smoking while watching the fires burn from a good vantage point at the side of the highway, or sitting on a hilltop while sitting in their lawn chairs. Viewing the fire from kilometers away, one may experience many emotions; amazed by the power of fire and hope that it does not come close to my home and expressing feelings of sympathy for those that the fire is bearing down upon.

  Due to environmental and public pressure, the practice of slash burning and controlled burning, which causes smoke, has been discontinued such things as beetle kill epidemics and the ability to fight fires much more effectively with air support, have allowed ground fuels to build up on the forest floor… what do we do now?

  Everyone has an opinion, governments, ministry of forests, lumber companies, environmentalists, and the general public are sure to come up with a wide variety of “what ifs” and “why don’t we’s.” From the lumber / logging side of the spectrum some of the better ideas I have heard are:

-         Revisit the process of slash and controlled burns in certain areas in the late fall.

-         Log areas in a strip ½ - 1 mile wide and 2-5 miles long and spaced several miles apart where possible while being sensitive of creeks, rivers and lakes. This will make temporary meadows for wildlife and keep newly forested areas free of excess brush and debris. If chipped or slash burned then replanted, it provides an excellent fireguard with a young forest.

-         Build green spaces around our communities and keep them irrigated and green where possible i.e.: golf courses, orchards, vineyards, and parks.

-         Increase taxes on cigarettes to help pay for the cost of fighting forest fires every summer.

-         Many of the Kettle Valley Trestles near Kelowna BC have been destroyed. There will never be another train travel this route; therefore the trestles structurally do not need to support the weight they used to. Instead of building them to their former splendor, millions could be saved by using a suspension bridge similar to the Capilano Suspension Bridge instead of building trestles; or cut a trail / bike path into the canyon areas instead of putting a bridge across them.

  We are left with a huge volume of burnt timber, scarred blackened landscape, and not to mention the many displaced families. Now the cleanup and rebuilding begins. The mills also need to deal with and try to salvage as much lumber from the burnt timber as quickly as possible before it becomes too dry in next summers heat.

   Many thanks to the many people that helped throughout this extreme fire season; Forestry, Army, Navy, Firefighters, Air support crews, Logging contractors, the countless number of volunteers, and the people that had enough sense to stay off the lakes, and out of the way of the water bombers.

   Surely it is better to manage our forests hectare by hectare over time, under controlled conditions, rather than experiencing the rare but inevitable catastrophic event that comes by doing nothing.

  If you have any comments, ideas or questions of interest regarding the sawfiling trade that we can use in this column, please send me an e-mail; jehebert@telus.net

   John Hebert is the Head Filer at Gorman Bros. Lumber in Westbank, BC.