Thank you for listening to Depiction's Media Radio. Welcome to Policy Rights to show
about government policy and human rights. Welcome back to policy and Rights here in
Depictions Media Radio. I'm your host, Michael Clogs. We are seeing record
breaking temperatures around the world. At the same time, we're seeing some interesting
low temperatures, all of which can actually be attested to climate change. I
know that the focus, of course is temperature rising one point five degrees is
what we're actually talking A lot of people were talking about should we say that.
Even the Secretary General of the UN has been talking about how we have
to keep it at that and not let it go past there. But when
we look at the extreme weather patterns, a lot of it is based on
Antarctic Antarctic ice. These ice fields at either pole actually control things like jet
streams and how weather patterns actually happen. So that in say Calgary, Alberta
in Canada, when they saw in the middle of July an ice storm and
freezing temperatures that cause traffic accidents and slicks and other dangers in that particular area,
it is actually attesting to that Arctic or Antarctic ice melting causing different weather
patterns to actually happen. Now there is some history behind this and that that
these weather patterns have been been studied by experts from more than thirty years,
which means that the trend wasn't originally recognized as a trend and is now being
seen as a warming trend. So there's a lot going on. So there's
focus on wildfires. In the Xingdang province of China, they saw a record
breaking fifty two point two degrees centigrate over the sixteenth of July and the city
in Phoenix was above one hundred and ten degrees fahrenheit at the same time,
which Arizona maybe a little a little closer, but it is actually pushing their
their record limits of high temperatures. So there's a lot going on and a
lot that we need to actually look at. And the United Nations is issuing
water warnings and also talking about how there have been a numerous wildfire fire evacuations,
not only in North America, although the massive number of wildfires that have
gone across the Canada. In the United States, not only most people are
familiar with of course British Columbia, maybe Oregon and California having extreme wildfires it
has been pushing all the way across into areas like in Nova Scotia, New
England, in other areas in North America where they're seeing wildfires that they usually
don't have a very big wildfire season. So what is really going on and
what needs to needs to happen along with this is kind of up to us
as people to actually investigate and figure things out. A large part of climate
change and climate action that we need and actions that we need to take is
how do we curb some of our consumerism, our need to buy stuff.
Do we really need to buy that stuff or can we actually curb it?
So why don't we listen to statements made by a Minister of environment in British
Columbia as they talk about the wildfire season that they're having going into a long
weekend celebration that might have to be curb because of the threat of wildfires.
Thank you so much, and good morning everyone. My name is Bowen,
Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, and join you here today from the
territories of the Laquangan speaking people's, the Songhis and the squid Up First Nations.
I'm joined by my colleague Bruce Ralston a little bit of feedback there should
step back, all right. I am joined virtually by my colleague Bruce Ralston,
Minister Forces, who is in Camloops today, and Cliff Chapman, Director
of Wildfire Operations for BC Wildfire Service, who is also in cam Roots today.
Today we will be sharing an update on the current wildfire situation and the
drought. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge the
tragic death of a young man who lost his life fighting fires nearer Fort Saint
John on Friday. As I know is the case for many of you,
my heart sunk when I received this news. This young man was assisting the
BC Wildfire Service in protecting people from the Dawney Creek wildfire. British Columbians are
still reeling from the loss of Devon Gale and to go through this again is
heartbreaking on behalf of the province. I want to offer my deepest sympathies for
this young man's family, friends, colleagues and the entire wildfire fighting community.
I know that this is a difficult time and your province stands with you.
BC Wildfire Service, firefighters, contractors and international firefighters have an incredibly difficult job
and every day they go through heroic lengths to protect people in communities. From
the bottom of my heart, thank you. As of the morning, there
are approximately five hundred and thirty people under an evacuation order and nine and over
nine thousand, five hundred people under an evacuation alert in BC. This includes
over five hundred properties under evacuation order and over forty one hundred properties under evacuation
alerts. Of note, over the weekend, the Ego Bluff wildfire crossed our
border from the United States, which triggered widespread evacuation orders and alerts in the
Regional District of Okanagan, Samilkamene and the city of SOYUS. The number of
properties on evacuation order and alert due to this wildfire has dropped considerably. Additionally,
yesterday, the Downtown Lake wildfire grew significantly, leading to evacuation orders and
alerts issued by the Squamish Lilouette Regional District. Over two hundred and twenty properties
are under evacuation order due to the wildfire. We are also aware that there
was impact to structures overnight and a full assessment will be completed when it is
safe to do so my thoughts are with everyone who has impacted during this challenging
time. Emergency support services are readily available to lend a helping hand to those
who have been evacuated and need assistance. Historically, August is known to be
one of the most challenging months for the wildfire season here in British Columbia.
I want to assure everyone that we have among the most skilled, professional and
dedicated teams of firefighters and emergency management personnel in the world. And that said,
it is still crucial that people take steps to be prepared and to know
where to get verified information on evacuation orders and evacuation alerts. Preparedness is a
team effort. We must all take part. First Nations and local governments issue
evacuation orders and alerts on recommendation from the BC Wildfire Service. Local governments and
First Nations will provide information on evacuation roots and evacuation reception centers. People must
register and attend an evacuation reception center in order to access these services, which
includes everything from supports for accommodation, food transportation, to taking care of other
essential needs that you may have. People may preregister with Emergency Support Services online
using the Evacuate Registration and Assistance Tool at EESS dot gov, DOTC dot ca
A. Additionally, information on evacuation alerts and orders is amplified by the province
through the Emergency INFOBC website. If your community is placed on an evacuation order,
you must evacuate the area immediately. I'd now like to turn your attention
to drought. July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth. We are
experiencing the impacts of climate change. Right now, twenty three of our province's
thirty four water basins are in a drought level four or drought level five classification.
This continues to be a severe situation. We all have a role to
play in conserving water to make sure everyone has access to water when they need
it, and it's important that our extreme drought situation is not overshadowed by the
ongoing wildfire situation. We are seeing an increasing number of people, businesses,
and communities face challenges because of drought. Our wildfire is also being impacted.
Part of me, our wild life is also being impacted. Warmer environments due
to climate change have prolonged the lifespan of moths that feed on hemlocks and Douglas
furs, allowing them to inflict a more severe impact on local trees. I'm
hearing of stories of bears wandering into communities looking for food because of the drought's
impact on barry crops. These impacts are real and substantial, and we're having
to put in restrictions to protect our waterways and eco systems. On Monday,
we enacted protections for the fish population in the Kutneys due to the increasing temperature
of water in the afternoon and evening. Recreational fishing in specific Kutney waters will
be closed from two pm to midnight daily until September tenth. While stress on
the fish population is primarily caused by heat, waters with lower flows, as
is the case during drought conditions, generally heat up quicker than waters with higher
flows, making it harder for released fish to recover. As the extreme drought
conditions continue, we expect to see different challenges arise. Farmers and ranchers are
among those with the most immediate challenges. The province is working with the agricultural
community as well as the federal government to support BC producers. Just last week,
Minister Alexis launched the new Access to Feed program delivered in partnership with the
BC Cattleman's Association to help connect suppliers who have hay and feed producers who need
it. Access to water by food producers is crucial for food security for all
of us. We know how important access to water is for the producers who
grow our food, and the province is working to find ways to limit water
usage in government facilities and is working closely with large businesses and industries to reduce
water usage. We're also working with municipal partners and indigenous communities to support their
local water management. Escalating water restrictions are difficult, but they are also necessary
decisions for local governments and first nations. It's the cumulative effort of people and
businesses that will have a meaningful impact on water conservation. That's why it's incredibly
important that everyone, including businesses, follow all local water restrictions. Every drop
counts. This Friday, Metro Vancouver will be moving to Stage two of watering
restrictions. This means lawn watering will be prohibited. Using a sprinkler for trees,
flowers and shrubs is allowed between five am and nine am. This is
the first time Metro Vancouver has raised restrictions beyond level one since twenty fifteen.
Now, restrictions are different from community to community, so if you are outside
of Metro Vancouver, or if you're inside as well, please make sure that
you familiarize yourself with your local water restrictions and follow the rules in your area.
I do want to thank local governments and regional districts for taking this rout
seriously and putting in restrictions when necessary. And I'd like to again encourage communities
to increase their water restrictions because now is the time. I know many communities
are seeing healthy reservoir levels right now, but we are not sure how much
rain we will see in the fall. We must be prepared to expect there
our reservoirs may not recharge through the levels that we're used to. Lastly,
i'd like to thank people and businesses for following these restrictions. We are in
this together. Thank you. And now i'd like to turn it over to
Minister Bruce Ralston. Thank you, the Minister mow. Good morning everyone.
I'm Bruce Rolston, the Minister of Forests. I'm speaking to you today from
the Provincial Wildfire Coordination Center here in Camelos. I'm honored to be here on
the topshop the territory located within the lands of the Shoepa Nation. First and
foremost, let me offer to my deepest condolences to the family, friends and
colleagues of the young man who lost his life assisting the VC Wildfire Service near
Fort Saint John on Friday. This tragic loss is felt across the fire fighting
community and beyond. It's heartbreaking to lose another frontline bureau. Firefighters make extraordinary
sacrifices to protect communities and people. As Minister Mah noted, August tends to
be one of the most active months for wildfires here in British Columbia and the
second most active month for lightning strikes after July. We will see very hot
and dry conditions that August that can lead to increased wildfire activity when there is
lightning or human caused fire starts. Our experts at the BC Wildfire Service will
be monitoring closely for potential lightning in the forecast, and I want to thank
all British Columbians who are doing their part to prevent human cause fires and reduced
wildfire risks. This month also represents the fourth consecutive month of elevated wildfire activity
in British Columbia and a breath of start to the wildfire season and the Prince
George Fire Center in the spring has meant steady work for our wildfire cruise and
support personnel since May. As Minister Moss said, our BC Wildfire Service firefighters
are among the best in the world. They are true professionals who have sacrificed
time with their friends and family to do difficult, unforgiving work in extremely challenging
conditions. I'm going to offer my sincere gratitude and appreciation on behalf of all
British Columbias for everything they do to keep us safe. There are currently three
hundred and sixty one wildfires burning across British Columbia. Thirteen of those are wildfires
of note. Since April first of this year, one five hundred and seventy
six wildfires have burned a total of one point five million hectares. In recent
days, many of the wildfires of note in the Northwest Prince George and Cariboot
Fire Centers have been downgraded, as have their associated evacuation alerts and or in
the Camloops Fire Center, BC Wildfare Service personnel are working around the clock on
the Eagle Bluff wildfire, located west of the Sayers. This wildfire started to
south of the border in the United States and its approximately three thousand hectars in
size. On the Canadian side of the border. There are currently sixty one
firefighters, six helicopters, eleven pieces of heavy equipment, and the Structure Protection
Team working on the Eagle Bluff wildfire under the command of an incident management team.
On the lower East Adams Lake wildfire twenty one kilometers north of Chase near
Camloops on the east side of Adams Lake, Extensive helicopter bucketing over the last
eight days has significantly reduced the threat to communities south of the wildfire. The
Downton Lake wildfire, located ten kilometers west of Goldbridge on the north side of
Downton Lake, which is north of Pemberton and south of Lilouette in that region,
has seen growth over the last twenty four hours. The fire is estimated
to be nearly eighteen hundred cactus in size, and fifty personnel are responding to
the fire. Approximately two hundred and thirty properties are under evacuation order and about
sixty properties are under evacuation alert. We are aware of impacts to structures along
the southwest side of Gun Lake overnight. The Squamish Lilouette Regional District will be
assessing conducting rapid damage assessments as soon as his estates to do so and will
release that information when available. PC Wildfire Services coordinating with this Squamish Lilouette Regional
District to ensure this happens as soon as possible. Property owners in the region
are encouraged to contact the Regional District directly. On the Rossmoor Lake wildfire,
located ten kilometers south of us Here and Cameleots, smoke and small columns have
been highly visible in recent days. This smoke is due to increased wildfire activity
along the northwest and southern flanks of the wildfire. Yesterday, air tankers and
skimmers were highly visible to residents of Camlets while they supported ground operations. But
let me stress this recent activity is not is not threatening Highway five, Black
Lejeune Hamlets or adjacent communities. There are currently one hundred and forty three firefighters,
eight helicopters, thirty four pieces of heavy equipment, structure protection teams working
on this fire under the command of an incident management team on the Saint Mary's
Wildfire. Thanks to our dedicated firefighters, this fire has now been downgraded from
out of control to being held. With the help of contract crews, air
crews and heavy equipment operators, we were able to bring the under control.
I'd like to extend my thanks to our partners and local community in the area
for their invaluable support of our firefighting crews. Let me also acknowledge that the
Saint Mary's River wildfire had significant impacts for the community of Saint Mary's Indian Band.
Despite their hardship, the community welcome to BC Wildfire Service while also supporting
each other. I want to thank the Akham community for their graciousness, warmth
and kindness in such a trying time. As I mentioned, July and August
represent our pore wildfire season, but we are prepared and have the necessary resources
in place. They were over eight hundred wildfire personnel from out of country and
two hundred members of the Canadian Armed Forces supporting the local wildfire effort. This
international support augments the more than two thousand BC Wildfire staff and fifteen hundred contract
to US now already responding to the situation here in our province. I'd also
like to recognize and thank people in British Columbia for their efforts to reduce human
cause to wildfires this season. Your diligence and attention to current prohibitions and bands
significantly supports the wildfire effort. It does make a real difference and keeps our
crews focused on the hundreds of naturally caused wildfires that are typical at this time
of year. Many of you have also taken the necessary steps that makes your
homes and properties fire smart. As we begin to see more of wildfire in
the southern half of British Columbia, take time to familiarize yourself with the fire
Smart Last Minute Wildfire Checklist. Well, this checklist won't replace the actions you
should take in advance, it is useful to have on hand at this time
of year. To check out this resource another great fire smart tips, visit
the fire Smart BC website. I'm also urging everyone to continue to report wildfire
using the Wildfire app or calling Star five five five five from a cell phone,
even if you may believe the wildfire has already been reported. Please do
not hesitate to contact us. The information you provide may be critical to BC
Wildfire Service operations. Lastly, I want to acknowledge that this has been a
long and difficult wildfire season and as far from over, this is extremely challenging
for communities and people. It's extremely stressful living day to day with smoke or
near a fire or being on an evacuation alert or order. On behalf of
all British plumb he thank you to the firefighters, first responders and emergency management
teams who are working tirelessly to prepare and respond to these challenges on O and
let me assure British Columbians we are working hard to ensure communities are prepared and
have the supports they need. Our number one focus is keeping people's safe.
Thank you. I'll now turn it back to Minstal. Thank you. I'll
now turn it back to Minstal. Thank you so much. Minister Ralston,
I invite Cliff Chapman from the BC Ball of our Service to speak now.
Minister Ralston, I asked just to speak briefly prior to questions this morning,
because we are getting a lot of questions, a lot of interest in how
our organization is doing and how the people that are supporting our organization are doing
obviously with the tragic loss of life in the fire community and the BC as
well as the Northwest territories over the last three weeks. We appreciate the concern
of how our organization is doing, and I wanted to just address it before
questions and then happy to answer questions afterwards. From a personal side, I've
been in this organization for twenty one years. I started as a firefighter as
a seventeen year old kid and have worked my way through the organization to now
where I am the director of provincial Operations for DC Welfare Service. I have
never felt the heaviness that we are feeling this season with the tragic loss of
two individuals in DC on fires, and we've certainly appreciated the condolences and the
support from the public as well as from the media that are in the room
and on the line today, and we appreciate your questions around how we're doing
and how our staff are feeling. The truth is it's heavy and our people
are continuing to show up every day to support the firefighting effort on your ground,
and it's a challenging year for the entire wildfire community, the national fire
community, and the international community. We have received condolences that offers from support
from around the world that we thank everybody for that. The loss of life
is obviously traffic and something that we haven't experienced a great deal in BC over
the past decade or two and it's not something that we want to experience moving
forward. The truth is the humans are the center of an emergency, whether
that's the people who are impacted or the people who are there trying to limit
the impact that being. The VC Wildfire Service and all of the contractors and
support staff that we have around. Over the last number of years, PC
Weldfire Service has put a significant effort into holistic health for our staff. Total
worker health is something that we are passionate about in wildfire. We've done initiatives
to support resiliency, mental health, emotional health and physical health for our staff,
but it's not enough and we need to continue the challenge with people focused.
And it's not a challenge, it's an opportunity with people full because work
and initiatives to look after the responders. They're out there trying to look after
the communities and the resources NBC is there is no finished fund. We need
to continue to learn from other agencies. We need to continue to learn from
our own people and their experiences to put programs in place for our staff so
that they continue to feel the support that they are feeling from public, from
the media, and from our organization over the course of the last number of
the peaks. Right now, if you're to ask the question of how we're
doing, the answer is we're doing okay. It is heavy. There is
a lot of grief within the organization and beyond. And as I said,
we are continuing to show up, and we are continuing as an organization and
I think as a population NBC to wrap around the BC Weldfare service to support
staff that are supporting US contractors, community members, to show that they are
loved and that their work is appreciated across this province. It's not easy work.
These people are leaving their families, they're leaving their livelihoods to go and
support communities efforts in the fighting in DC right now and right now, we
won't know until the end of the season sort of the longer term in backs
and so our focus is obviously on response and continuing to search to these fires.
But we need to continue to monitor how our staff we're doing and look
at programs as we move into the fall for the months and years ahead.
So thank you for giving me a moment today. I just wanted to talk
about that, and we are happy to provide information through a media request into
our communication scheme on some of the specific programs that we have put in place
in DC over the last number of years. Thank you, minister. I'll
go back to you. Thank you so much for them. I'll go back
to you. Thank you so much for that, Cliff, and for the
very important reminder to everyone that when we're fighting ball fires, the people at
the front of the line, they are not nameless, faceless entities. They
are people who are loved and love and have community and families and friends that
that they all want to go home too safely. And we're so grateful for
the work of every single person on those lines. We'll now go to questions.
We do have personnel from the River Forecast Center, BC Wildfire Service,
Minister Ministry of Forest, Ministry of Emergency Management, Climate Readiness, as well
as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to help answer questions as well the working
Yeah, thank you as a reminded to media on the line please press throng
ONECE entered que one question and they follow up. Our first question comes from
the fund Shannon Patterson, CTV, Vancouver. Oh, Hi there, This
question is for Quick Happen, just sort of tiggy dock on what you were
just talking about the tragic loss of both Sacnews and Devin Gale. Can you
talk about a little bit about the danger, the real danger that the men
and women who choose to work as wildland firefighters face doing this job. What
makes it dangerous, What are the perils that are out there, and what
kind of training do they get before they head out into the back country firefighting
to try to prevent tragedies like the one who Sweeve seen. For that question,
you know, I think I could probably take a significant amount of time
to kind of talk about the dangers and just being in the back country in
any profits or any jurisdiction. And obviously we provide our staff with the level
of training so that they can manage and force the potential hazards that are in
the field. But then you add on the next layer of the actual conditions
that we're facing in VC right now. We've been doing these media availabilities.
Now for the last number of weeks, we continue to hear about the impacts
of drought, the impacts of fire season, and those add another layer of
danger. As you know, when you consider an evacuation order for a community,
is a community is leaving due to the threat of wildfire, and DC
Wildfire Service and the support from other agencies and contractors are are going the other
way towards that response and trying to protect that community, and so there are
inherent dangers with that. Obviously, we have a significant training portfolio within VC
Wildfire Service. From the moment that you get hired and as you work your
way through the ranks of wildfire you you continue to get additional training, training
like danger tree training to be able to assess and understand if the tree is
safe for dangerous as you enter a fire seam based on how that tree looks
and how it sounds, and being able to assess the roots of such a
tree. So there's danger tree training, there's there's obviously a creation related safety
training and maybe a capit there. There's a lot of training, and I
would ask you know, our palms team can follow up with sort of a
list of all the training that our staff go through. But the dangers are
real. I think we've seen with the fire and issueous and some of the
coverage that we saw from that fire is fire is extremely aggressive with the conditions
that we have right now, and when that fire came over the border,
we saw what we refer to as ranked five six fire, which there isn't
we can't put humans in front of that fire, but that fire is extremely
dangerous and it is running. It is moving so fast that our people have
obviously significant training on what to know about the weather, what to know about
fire behavior, and when is the time to pull back based on the conditions
that they see. And so yeah, the list is fairly long talk in
terms of the dangers, and I appreciate the question, but I think in
a year like this year, as we see one of the worst droughts INBC,
we're continuing to learn as well as as we experience these fires what the
impacts of drought has to our safety to what they can do are like actually
undergrown, what the conditions are like actually on the grown follow Shannon. Yeah,
discusion is for Conny Chapman about watering restrictions. Can you tell us it's
the first stage that we've seen of watering restrictions are having an impact and obviously
not enough of an impact to prevent going to the next stage. And again,
just why is it so important that we all follow these restrictions thank is
a great question. So we are seeing benefits from the voluntary reductions that are
happening. So keeping your mind, local governments have requested the watering restrictions and
those local governments are definitely seeing benefits within their system and supply from those restrictions
that are being put in place. Furthermore, the province has been asking water
licensees to reduce use on a voluntary basis as best they can, and we
have been having some great success within systems, seeing systems be able to maintain
and fold at those those flows that are able to support the fisheries, habitat
and these potic ecosystem um. Moving forward, it's critical that we continue down
down this path of being conscious and cautious as to how we utilize and where
we utilize the water. Every drop, as we've heard ministered their moss say
counts and definitely the work that is underway is having a positive, positive impact
in several watersheds in several watersheds. The second question comes from Avon Maycofer Global
use a question about the gun Make fire. Excuse me, were there any
structural protection crews that were able to get in and deal with people's homes or
was the fire moving too quickly for that? Cliff, I think that's a
question for you. He could go ahead. Thank you for the question.
Sorry, I couldn't tell if I was fun muted or not. Yeah,
we did have structure actual personnel on the gun Lake fire. Whether or not
we got apparatus on every structure, I can't confirm right now, but we
can confirm after the call today. Follow up are yeah, and just a
general question about gun Lake, just considering its remoteness, Can someone just talk
to me about the difficulty in fighting a fire that moves that quickly in such
a remote area? Go ahead. Started struggling to unneed today. Um.
Yeah, And it's not just gun Lake. I think if you look at
the fires that we have in the Countless Fire Center right now, with the
two Adams Lake fires in the vicinity of Adams Lake as well as there's a
couple other fires in the Lilouette area, and it's deep, it's rocky terrain.
The terrain features are extremely challenging to be able to utilize heavy equipment.
Even our aviation FLEEP has challenges being able to drop effectively when you're in that
steep terrain. And I think the third piece around many of our fires over
the last number of days and potentially over the next coming couple of days is
wind. We're seeing quite a significant wind every afternoon and sometimes lasting through into
the evening as we saw last night. And that wind just it has the
ability with the slope to support it, the steep slope to support it,
to really drive a fire very very quickly, and operation suppression operations become very
very challenged and at times we don't win that challenge. So challenging, access,
challenging to use heavy equipment to build control lines that we can work off
of. And obviously the weather conditions and the terrain features allow that fire to
potentially run at a fairly fast pace quality black press media. So hi there.
I have a couple of questions specific to the Saint Mary's River fire,
which is now thankfully being held after a lot of incredible work from a technical
and operational standpoint, with such a large wildfire burning near First Nations community now
that it's being held. I'm just curious what those area residents can expect from
a BC Wildfire Service operational standpoint as we go into the coming days and weeks
and possibly months in terms of getting that fire from being held to under control
to hopefully being completely extinguished. We'll stay with you, Cliff, go ahead,
Yeah, I think I understand your question is is that we'll still continue
to see a presence on a fire that gets change from status from out of
control to under control or being held, and that is our goal is to
continue to make sure we have trigger points identified so if there is a weather
event coming in that we can have the appropriate resources if we believe that fire
may pop back up and challenge our containment lines, so we won't see every
resource off of that fire. But obviously we also need to prioritize the rest
of the fires that are burning into province. And getting a fire to being
held is a significant achievement considering the conditions that we see in the southeast portion
of the province over the course of the last two weeks, and we don't
want the Saint Mary's River fire obviously to get new life and challenge our containment
lines, so no different than any other fire that we would change the status
from being held or to being held or under control. It is obviously our
desire to keep it that way and eventually be able to call it out,
which is a little more challenging with the issues that we're seeing right now in
the forecasting conditions for the next two weeks. These fires are quite large,
they have made a significant impact on the land base, and there is still
potential for the you know, a little smoke in the middle of that fire
with a little bit of wind to be able to pick up and see some
smoke popping off of that fire doesn't mean that it's challenging the containment lines,
but it will be visible likely for the coming days and weeks ahead, and
we will continue to see a response presence from DC Wildfire Service on the fire.
From DC Wildfire Service on the fire a lot, Trevor, Yeah,
thank you for that. This one is probably for for Minister mah Just wondering
if you can sort of outline your communications with the ACAM leadership over the last
two weeks and what role the province will play in helping the community recover from
this fire. In the coming months. Absolutely, we are in contact with
ACAM leadership and the Community Emergency Management Climate Readiness has spun up a recovery team
that will work with our partners including First Nations Health Authority, Indigenous Services Canada,
the local community, First Nations, Emergency Support Services and basically all of
the partners are involved in a situation like this to help assess and determine what
next steps are required in order to move the community towards recovery. Next question
comes from Joel Ballad, CBC News. Hey, thank you for taking these
questions. Can we start off with perhaps this is best for Minister mar perhaps
Cliff, but can you give us a sense of what the wildfire season has
cost the province so far this year. We do know that we are in
the midst of a very challenging far season. We've currently seen about one point
five million hectares of forests burned so far, and previous to this year,
the most we sell burned in an entire year was one point three to five
million hectares. As the wildfires begin to move further south, we will see
more populations impacted as well, which means the increased likelihood of more evacuation alerts,
more evacuation orders, more impacts on individuals and families and those communities.
We will continue to do what it takes and to spend whatever it takes to
fight these wildfires and support communities through these evacuations. Emergency support services are available
to people who are evacuated and need those supports as well. I'll open it
up to see if either Minister Ralston or Cliff Chapman would like to add some
further comments if they have any updated numbers. Stress that there is no upper
financial limit which we would bang agae if the fire seven continues to deterial.
The province is committed to depend and bather the resources to do whatever it takes
to keep the public of British Columbia states. So people need not worry about
running out of the budgetary needs to fight wildfires here in British Columbia. And
that's a commitment of the premiers made and the entire government is made. I
would also say that the Wildfire Service this year, in the budget process moved
to becoming a year round service and that that decision was made in the budget
process this year, and I think we hired an unprecedented number of new firefighters
this year for at the Welcour service through over three hundred and fifty and the
advantage of having a year round services that people then have the certainty that they
have employment year round. It becomes not simply a seasonal job where it gears
up in May or June and you're you're laid off in October or November.
So that I think is the future of the BC weld Our service and that
advanced preparation is really important. So we've made the government has made a major
commitment to the service and to the protection of the people in property appreciate,
people in property appreciated. Last question comes from Lauren Collins, Black Press Media.
Right. I think my question would be Foreign Minister maw. I was
just wondering if the province has any more plans to take steps to protect wild
light, like with the reduced angling hours and acoutment. So I'll begin with
a few comments and then turn it over to Connie Chapman and the Minister Ministry
of Force. We are assessing the drought situation significant very closely, and different
streams, different communities will see different impacts. Different ecological systems will also experience
different impacts. We will not hesitate to issue additional orders if required. But
Connie Chapman, maybe you have some comments on this particular question. So,
as Minister Moth said, we are looking at all the options and all the
tools under the different pieces of the legislation that pertain within the current situation.
As we've discussed before, we will take action with utilizing temporary protection orders under
the Water Sustainability Act to really protect that aquatic ecosystem and the fisheries populations.
We do have a number of subject matter expertise looking at some of our most
critical systems in determining what their needs may be, and we may see in
the future, depending on the out console of the analysis and so forth,
additional additional orders either under the Water Sustainability Act or other actions under different pieces
of legislation that may ProTeam to fish or so forth, protein to fish or
so forth. Follow up, Lauren, Yes, what else can the public
do to limit some of the impact or encounters with wildlife like the bears?
That's actually a good question. Someone from the Ministry of for US might be
able to offer some more tips there, but certainly members of the public should
not be interacting with wildlife should not be leaving food out for wildlife. It
is important that if you're in an area where you are likely to encounter wildlife,
that your garbage junior recycling is is stored properly, that you're not leaving
that kind of food out for wildlife to access. These are the kinds of
steps that are important regardless of whether we are in a drought situation or not.
And I know that the Conservation Office Service provides public safety messaging for wildlife.
I don't know, Peter Brock if if you're on the line, if
you have any of that messaging available or if we should follow up. Must
imagine, yeah, I should mentioned Minister captured that very well, including all
the precautions and the public should be taking. So I don't have anything to
add And certainly, as the Minister mentioned, Conservation Officer Service is the best
place to seek out some of their public safety messaging and some of the kind
of advertising campaigns they do on wildlife to protect the public. So there's lots
out there on that, and we can certainly follow up and provide the additional
detail for you. Thank you. Provide the additional detail for you, Thank
you. It looks like we have a few more questions from the phone.
Next question comes from Brianna Charlie Boys Kenny Dean Press Great, thanks so much.
I'm just wondering if someone can confirm how many structures have been lost at
gun Lake and then to that point, if we know the number provincially as
well, Cliff, that's you've probably got the latest information on that. We
don't have that number right now, and I would actually turn to Painter Brought
to discuss the provincial number right now. It's not actually state for us to
go into gun Lake and fully assessed. We're obviously continuing to work with our
Structure Protection personnelity on the structures in that area, which is our focus in
the response to the current wildfiring, and obviously less so one identify lost structures
at this point, but we are working closely with the Squamish lelo At Regional
District on that identification pay and else and viewing anything that yeah, I think
you pay to boping sechrajector for EMCR. So to clips point, we are
working with the community. It's challenging in the early stages to get those numbers
confirmed. Certainly when the confirmation of those numbers is available, we'll be sure
to make that public. There's a number of numbers being kind of provided,
so I don't want to speculate too much until we sort of confirm that and
provide more clarity on that, but do want to mention that what's very important
I think for everyone to understand is that any structure loss as significant. We
understand that this is very challenging for communities to work through those elements, and
we continue to support how where we can. So we'll be sure to circle
back with numbers when we have confirmation on that. Community. Thank you up
from community, Thank you follow up Brianna. Okay, great, thank you
so much. Um. Yeah, I guess from that point, Um,
it's like what I'm wondering if you could speak a little bit more specifically of
what you expect for that specifically the Gun Lake, specifically wildfire specifically in the
coming days. Um, and yes, sort of what the biggest challenges are.
I guess Okay, I think that's back to Cliff there. I think
it goes without saying for any of our larger fires and so that we have
a challenging week. The forecast is for hot and dry conditions to continue.
What what's really challenging us right now, as I mentioned earlier, is the
wind. We're seeing significant wind and wind gus pushing forty to seventy kilometers an
hour, and it is pushing not just the gun Lake fire, but a
number of our fires in the stuff and really challenging our containment lines in terms
of the next number of days. We have intiment management team in place on
that fire, as well as many of our other fires we've discussed previously.
We have intantent management team support from outside jurisdictions Australia, the United States,
as well as our own six into I management teams that are deployed across the
province. That team is putting together plans both obviously plans for the next twenty
four hours in immediate response, but they're also doing a lot of work with
growth modeling and projections to identify planning for the next seventy two hours and beyond
to really ensure that we are building containment lines. We have contingency lines built
behind that. But as discussed earlier, the conditions that gun Lakes specifically are
quite challenging to steep terracing, so we are utilizing our aviation massets we have
ground resources on that fire, including structure protection but also fire suppression crews,
and the plan will be to continue to try to protect the structures around Gun
Lake and ideally try to steer that fire away from from the structures and the
communities while the conditions persists and make it very challenging for us to actually suppress
the fire full. Next question comes from Peter and Midham country Life. Hi,
thanks to the availability today. Just wanted some clarification after I've been speaking
with some producers and industry groups that if a groundwater user is cut off,
particularly in the agricultural sector. I understand some have been told that they can
go to other licensed users and possibly obtain water as long as it's still within
their allocation the allocation of the licensed user, but I understand that other producers
have been total that's that not str allowed. So can you offer any clarification
preps Connie or other smart Uh? Why don't we try? Yeah? I
see Connie muting herself, so maybe she has some comments there um challenging situation
that in that case, individuals can look to potentially other licensees that may fold
a license for water transport or for other mechanisms under the Water Sustainability Act that
would allow that water to them be used at that point in location. So
the critical thing is um looking at what is within the legislation and ensuring that
if the use and how it's being used for still aligns with the legislation.
We are aware that there are license holders out there that are specifically for um,
you know, the transport of water and so forth. So it's going
to be really dependent on circumstances. We have staff that would be happy to
work work as best we can with looking at the different circumstances if there are
specific questions within water licenses, but it's critical that those water license holders remained
in compliance and the Water Sustainability Act. Thank you, thank you, follow
thanks you very much. Jollity Act was passed by the government to BC Liberal
government in twenty sixteen. Who was six years of notices, public press releases,
discussions with professional organizations, in some cases even personal contact with water users
to encourage them to register. So what is happening now and in some regions,
for example Vancouver Island, where it's at a level five throughout the highest
level, those people who have not registered and who are using water illegally for
commercial purposes from a domestic source, are in danger of certainly losing the right
to do that. What they are doing is contract if they want to sustainability
acting and difficult decisions are made during drought and those people who have chosen or
have not registered at this point will be subject to enforcement orders I would say
in terms of enforce members. If someone has registered but they do not have
a license yet, in other words, the application is incute, there will
be no enforcement action against those people. So it's extremely important. And I
remember that the previous minister and the previous government encouraging people to register, and
you will do it again, but there are real consequences if in a drought
you've not entered into the scheming under the Water Sustainability Act. It's very important
that people be registered and in priority obviously in any allocation of scarce water resources
will go to those who have registered than from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Thanks Marketing, Ministry of Agriculture. And if I could just add to that,
so there are a number of unauthorized users that we are aware of that
have livestock and we have followed up with those on authorized users directly and have
provided them sources registered sources of water where they can provide livestock drinking water to
ensure that there are no animal welfare issues for those unauthorized users. Do have
a follow up heers? Do you have a follow up heer? Yeah?
I believe that was mister Ralston answering on the second answer of that first question.
But yeah, just maybe segueing off that Connie had mentioned last week that
a precise number for suspected unauthorized users on Vancouver Island, and but she'd also
mentioned enforcement action taking place in the Thompson Nicola region, and so I was
just wondering if there was account on enforcement actions that had been taken place there
against suspected unauthorized groundwater users. Go ahead, Connie, so on Vancouver Island,
the sub coast, it wasn't Thompson Okanagan, it was Coote Boundary region.
And we are aware that other regions such as Thompson Okanagan is currently taking
assessments to determine who may be an unauthorized user, especially within the watersheds where
we're seeing the greatest impact to the current route situation. Last question comes from
Jillian. Last question comes from Jillian Francis Ferny free pr all Right, um,
so I've been reporting on the Sparwood fire, the Latmore Creek fire,
and um I was told that there was a weekend I had a bit of
rain on the weekend and that this reduced reduced the intensity of the fire.
So I was wondering if someone could shed light on what ground operations currently look
like there and how they have changed since the weekend rain. We'll go back
to Cliff Chapman from the BC Welfare Service. Yes, we did see a
little bit of rain on that fire and it did. It did knock down
kind of the activity and the small column that has been present on that fire.
Obviously, with so many fires opening in this some in portion of the
province and continuing to maintain the northern response with the fires we saw earlier,
I don't have that specific information right in front of me. I do encourage
everyone in the media and to please visit DC Wildfire Dot a look at the
fires of note. We update that information very regularly. It has the the
operations that are being undertaken, the amount of resources bit are on a fire,
and the potential for that fire over the coming days. So I apologize
I don't have that information right now, but I guess a bit of a
plug for the wildfires of Note and the wildfire Now where you can find that
information online online follow up Jillian, Yeah, I also, like I saw
on the website that there were I mentioned that we're there's new fires that were
started potentially in the facility of our what over the weekend, and I was
wondering how close they were to the original fire cliff. If you have any
comments, we can have them here or we can maybe set up a follow
up. I think we did pick up a number of fires in that general
area from recent lightning activity over the course of the last couple of weeks.
I don't have the specifics on how close they are to this bar would fire,
but I do know that we did have three or four additional incidents in
that sort of general geographic and we'll have to follow up with the specifics,
Okay. In my introduction to this particular episode, I did mention consumerism,
and it is one of the one of the things that is not really talked
about as much as it should be, is how consumerism is actually feeding climate
change and how, especially in North America, we have a problem with everything
has to be packaged, and we have landfills filled with single use packages that
maybe if we cut back on some of the packages just there, we could
spare some of the oil mining and some of the waste that we produce that
actually is causing some of the greenhouse gases that we're seeing. Just something to
think about, can you do without that package good? Or if you're on
the manufacturing and can you cut back the packaging so that it is a little
bit less waste on our environment, click that so scribe button wherever it may
be, and thank you for listening. The show has been produced by Depictions
Media. Please contact us at depictions dot media for more information.