Lets Consider Improving Response Training during Wildfire Resiliency Week

We can’t ignore response training. The current situation is a mess and I fear a tragedy is pending.

Improving safety for workers and the public is my key concern. We don’t just wait for organized help to find us in remote or rural BC for other situations. Self-rescue is a key component of all avalanche training. Anyone who works in the bush is required to have at least basic first aid.

I have never stopped to help at a car accident (50 years with a first aid ticket) and had the victim tell me to go away because I wasn’t with BC Ambulance or a Fire Dept.

Fire seasons are more variable, fire behavior is more erratic, and organized help is often limited or unavailable. Anyone who lives, works or plays in rural and remote BC should be better prepared to make decisions on their own when they encounter a wildfire. These decisions will vary from if, or how to, attack the fire to when should we leave, what direction should we head and how far should we go.

It doesn’t take much. On Aug. 18, 2023, as the Bush Creek fire bore down on us, I gave 30 trapped people a 10-minute Burn-over Survival course at a coffee shop in Scotch Creek. All survived with no injuries.

Those of us that are blessed to be allowed to try and make a living in the wildlands of BC have additional legal expectations regarding wildfire prevention, preparedness and response. The requirement to respond is likely a stipulation in our contracts and insurance policies. Perhaps even more importantly, as stewards of the land, we have a moral obligation to try to keep residents safe and healthy and limit unwanted damage to the area at and around our worksites.

To be clear, I am not saying that responding means we all run directly towards all fires. Any responses must be based on values at risk, resources available and current and expected fire behavior. The first arriving person must assess the fire, set objectives, make a plan, establish LACES and brief the other arriving folks. All objectives and plans must reflect the physical capabilities of the responders.

Two fires = two different responses. Top = Knockdown/Exting. Bottom = Protect Assets, Fall Back, Regroup

Right now, wildfire response training is a mess.

BC Wildfire (BCWS) has just developed a new S100 Basic Fire Suppression course. Many of us involved in wildfire training have serious concerns about the content and delivery of this new material.

I refuse to teach it. The course was developed internally by BCWS and I am not actually sure who the target audience is. I am very concerned about some of the information presented and especially the reduced focus on safety. The information on Entrapment Avoidance and Burnover Survival needs improvment. It does not prepare participants to deal with current conditions or to make key decisions on our own. There is little information on Prevention or Preparedness.

Worksafe BC regs. (26.3) states that all forestry workers who fight a wildfire must be trained to this BCWS S100 standard.

The BCWS S100 is required to work for BC Wildfire. Interestingly they don’t require forestry workers they hire to be trained, only properly supervised and briefed. (Excerpt from Occupational Safe Work Standard #3 below)

The BCWS S100 is not adequate training for those of us who may be on our own with little or no organized help for any length of time and/or who have additional prevention and preparedness obligations.

I have been travelling BC presenting the MacLeod S100 for Industry to various organizations and companies. The course content reflects the current situation and delivery is acheivable. It is designed to better help workers and residents in rural and remote BC make appropriate decisions when they encounter a wildfire. The training has also proven valuable for urban residents that live or work adjacent to parks and green spaces. The training includes substantial information on Prevention/Preparedness current best practices.

We have offered it as a theory only day or combined it with practical drills using either the customers tools and water delivery system or standard BC Wildfire equipment.

The course has been getting very good reviews. Give me a call for a look or to discuss.

It is hot, dry and windy out there. Stay safe.

Doug