HI folks.

Hope you had a restful, happy holiday season and best wishes for a safe, healthy and successful 2024. As I shut work down for Christmas and hit the trails, I pondered the past wildfire season.

My condolences to all who lost loved ones, friends and associates while fighting fires this past fire season. Not sure if it helps but to me, they were heroes, going toward a perilous situation when everyone else was going away.

My thoughts are also with the workmates and responders that had to deal with the aftermath of the incidents. I know you did your best and that they were in good hands.  For some of you dealing with this kind of event is not an anticipated part of your work or life. I have been there. Please take care and get some help if it is still bothering you or call anytime.

As well, my sympathies to all of you that suffered losses of communities, homes, businesses and other things close to you this year. You are in for a long haul. Best wishes for as speedy and full return to your pre-fire lives as possible.

One of the things that keeps me in this business is seeing how people pull together during an emergency.   A lot of people did great things this fire season. I saw BC Wildfire crews; structural fire fighters; search and rescue crews; RCMP members; individuals from various government agencies; members of the public service; industry supervisors, contractors and crews; volunteers, residents of First Nations communities and other members of the public go over and above what was expected of them, often at considerable personal peril. Your actions prevented further losses and tragedies. People dropped what they were doing, gave up their summer and came from other communities, provinces and countries to help.

Thanks to you all. How lucky we are to have organizations and individuals that show up to help when needed.

We all had a role to play in creating the current wildfire problem, I am looking forward to working with you all in the new year as we work to rectify it.

Doug

If you live, work or play in rural BC you will have a close encounter with a wildfire.  I hope this page and blog help you deal with it when it occurs.

Starting in 2017 I experienced several large wildfires in rural and remote areas that had less than hoped for help. This is completely understandable as lives were at risk in communities and received the majority of the help. The members of the public, local ranchers and forest industry crews that responded on their own demonstrated remarkable courage and determination but had inadequate training and experience to respond safely and effectively.

There are several dedicated folks doing good work on mitigating the long-term effects of wildfire through fuel management and Firesmart. The beneficial results of this work may not be noticeable for several years. In the meantime, we have to make sure we all know how to deal with the beast when directly affected.

Full disclosure, I am an old white guy and this is not what I am good at. My spelling and punctation is terrible and I may say things in an inappropriate way. I apologize in advance for any offense. Please listen to the message and excuse the way it may be presented. I have been married for 37 years and raised teenagers so take advice really well. Let me know if you see any opportunities for improvement. I don’t want any important information to get lost due to how I present it.

I know quite a bit about wildfire but the longer I work in this business the more I realize how little I know and how much more there is to learn. I am not an expert, there are numerous people out there that know more about wildfire than I do. I hope this site will act as a forum for others to share experiences and good ideas to help all the stakeholders deal with future wildfire problems. Again, let me know if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for topics.

Talk soon.

Doug