British Columbia - New Forest Fire Outbreaks Running At 100 Per Day

[hatrack]

Victoria — Forest fire season in British Columbia is off to a sizzling pace, averaging about 100 new fires a day and already passing last year's total of 964 fires, Radha Fisher, Forests Ministry fire information officer, said Thursday.

A provincewide dry spell and almost daily lightning strikes have sparked more than 1,000 fires and led to evacuations of communities in northeastern B.C. and the Cariboo region. British Columbia averages about 2,000 fires in a season.

“We're extremely busy with fire activity,” said Ms. Fisher. “The business did begin over the (Canada Day) long weekend. We saw about 100 new fires over the Saturday and Sunday and then on Monday we saw another 100 new fires, Tuesday 100 new fires, (Wednesday) we saw 108 new fires and we're looking at another busy day (Thursday).” Government forest fire officials are already initiating contingency plans to ensure there's enough equipment and people to fight what could become a tough year, Ms. Fisher said. Private contractors have been called and told to stand by in case they're needed.

The provincial hot spot at the moment is the Cariboo region near Williams Lake where lightning-caused fires have put several tiny communities on evacuation alert. Residents of Tumbler Ridge in northeastern B.C.'s Peace region returned to their homes after fire threatened the community. Cooler temperatures and overnight rain dampened the fire threat.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060706.wbcfire0706/BNStory/National/home

[jillan]

1. British Columbia is magnificient.

Are forest fires common up there in the summer, or is this another
proof that global warming is for real?

[hatrack]

2. Synergistic - warm winters = huge pine beetle numbers = mass tree death

And the results are, well, pretty similar to what we're seeing here.

I posted a story a few days back that the pine beetles, which have been there for a very long time without causing this kind of dieoff, have already killed an area of forest bigger than Iceland in about five years.

Little doubt that this is attributable to warming.

[jillan]

3. We have pine beetles in Arizona too.

We have a small cabin in the mountains in northern Az.
We lost 90% of the trees on our lot due to pine beetles.

Not only was it expensive to have the trees removed - the tops were dead, but the stumps in the ground weren't - major fire hazard; the coolness of having a home shaded by trees is now gone (an important factor in the summer in Az), also gone is the beauty of the area.

Those pine beetles sure do alot of damage. Especially when the climate is so dry.

I didn't realize that this was a problem in BC as well. :(

[NNadir]

4. Well at least some of the pine beetles will be burned to death.

Refresh my memory. Are they an introduced species?

[hatrack]

5. No, they're natural - just out of control under current conditions nt

.

[NNadir]

6. Is the spread then, just a matter of climate change?

I know you keep your ears to the rails on these things. It seems like a catastrophic infestation. I think your note of a few days ago said this was going at hellfire speed across the continent.

[heartofthesiskiyou]

7. the beetles are always present

in conifer forests. When the forrest is weakened by drought and the trees can't fight them off an epidemic or die off occurs. Most of the time a few here and there are normal in any given stand.

Here in Oregon we are seeing whole stands decimated every few years. I've never seen it as bad as it has been in the last five years.

My opinion is the problem stems not so much from excessive heat in the summer, we've always had that, but from the lack of rain in the winter, the growing season. Thirty years ago, we used to get a half dozen days per winter where the temp would dip below freezing for a few hours at night. Last year for example, we had about 60 days of, some night very significant freezes, sometimes in the low twenties. Our, what we call blanket, the fog that drifts in off the ocean that keeps the redwoods alive and healthy, has thinned significantly. It burns off much earlier in the day then used to. It contains much less rain then it used to when it is in. It has happened over such long period of time, folks around here think that this is normal. Someone like me who has been gone from the NW for thirty years really see the change greater then the present locals.

[NNadir]

8. Ow. Thanks.