Review of 2017 Wildfire Season February 8, 2018

July 6-8: The Turning Point The 2017 season was relatively calm until July 6. Over 220 fires started between July 6 and July 8. July 7 July 8

of land burned by this year’s 1,347 wildfires Hectares Burned 1,200,000 hectares of land burned by this year’s 1,347 wildfires

Historical Records (1912 – 2017): Hectares Burned

Largest Wildfires on Record No. Year Name of Fire Size (ha) Cause 1 2017 Plateau Fire 521,012 Lightning 2 1958 Kechika River 285,935 Human 3 Hanceville/Riske Creek 239,298 4 Elephant Hill 191,865 5 1982 Egnell Lake/Liard River 182,725 6 2014 Chelaslie 133,100 7 1948 Beatton River (East of Pink Mtn.) 132,261 8 1971 Teeter Creek/Liard River 110,334 9 1950 Gundy - Townsend Creek/Cameron River 99,767 10 Chinchaga Fire - Blueberry and Beatton River 76,923

Fire Suppression Costs Total cost of $568,000,000 for wildfire suppression

Fire Suppression Costs Historical Records (1991–2017): Season Costs

2017 Resourcing At peak capacity, BCWS was utilizing: 4,700+ personnel total 1,200+ out-of-province personnel 2,000+ contract personnel 236 aircraft 300+ personnel from the Canadian Armed Forces

2017 Resourcing * All figures above are estimates Standing Offer Type Total money paid to Contractors Total number of hours of service provided to BCWS Total number of man days based on 12 hour day Average number of deployments based on 14 days Fire Crew/ Structural Protection Crews $56.5M 917,544 76,462 1092 First Aid $6.8M 127,032 10,586 378 Danger Tree Services (DTA/DTF/FC/DTS/QST) $8.4M 91,512 7,626 272 Please note: all the daily usage numbers are based on average daily rates paid for each type of service.  Without a really in depth review, everything was based off of financial reports and Simon wasn’t able to pull out Standby vs working (not tons of Standby this year though) and also expense reimbursements versus fees.  Simon would estimate the numbers below are within 10% of being accurate.  * All figures above are estimates

Other Season Highlights A Provincial Declaration of Emergency was put in place for the first time since 2003 It started on July 7 and was rescinded on Sept 15, lasting 70 days 2003’s Provincial Declaration of Emergency lasted 43 days Backcountry closures were implemented in the Cariboo Fire Centre and Rocky Mountain Natural Resource District Off-road vehicle bans were implemented in the Cariboo, Kamloops and Southeast fire centres The Canadian Armed Forces were brought in for the first time since 2003

Looking Ahead: Resources BCWS recognizes the challenges that will hamper their ability to respond effectively to escalating wildfire situations in the future: Continued population expansion into remote areas; Expanded industrial activity;  Climate change causing increased temperatures and a higher incidence of drought-like conditions; Forest stand conditions have shifted as well as areas of high fuel load due to past suppression efforts; and Sharing of national and international firefighting resources will become more challenging for BCWS Looking Ahead: Resources

Resource Challenges During elevated fire seasons all wildfire response agencies are challenged by resource shortages Agencies need to be more adaptive in looking for solutions BCWS is actively reviewing resource solutions During elevated fire seasons all wildfire response agencies are challenged by resource shortages.  This shortage has been felt across Canada, the Western United States and internationally during active fire seasons.   British Columbia is no different and has experienced shortfalls of experienced personnel. Agencies need to be more adaptive to the situation, looking for solutions to shortages. Resource solutions can be hit and miss – recent examples ( Mexico vs South Africa - contentious topic)

The type two fire crew is a higher qualified, experienced fire crew Type Two Model The type two fire crew is a higher qualified, experienced fire crew BCWS tested an elevated standard contract crew on guaranteed contracts in 2016 Unfortunately, there was no operational requirement for extra personnel Lessons learned included management, supervision and placements of crews One option closer to home is the development of a higher qualified, experienced contract fire crew, a Type Two Fire Crew.   BCWS began examining the topic in 2016 testing out an elevated standard contract crew on guaranteed contracts. While the experiment was not overly effective as there was no operational requirement for the extra personnel, it did prove valuable in several of the lessons it taught.

Type Two Model Based on the 2016 experiment, BCWS is exploring the opportunity to establish a broader type two fire crew resource The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre & its partners are supportive The national CIFFC standard type two crew would provide an experienced resource to help the province meet operational needs Moving forward BCWS is exploring the opportunity to establish a broader type two fire crew resource.     The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre and its partners are all supportive in the creation of a robust, recognized Type Two Fire Crew that will be available for export across the country. The higher national CIFFC standard Type Two Crew would provide an experienced resource to help the province meet operational needs. 

Type Two Model Type two crew model would provide stability to the contract fire crew community with guaranteed availability contracts Type two crews will be utilized in an elevated role over current fire crew services contractors The Type Two Crew model would provide greater stability to the contract fire crew community with guaranteed availability contracts.  A stable experienced work force benefits the contract community and BCWS.    Type Two crews will be utilized in an elevated role than current Fire Crew Services contractors, as there will be higher expectations of service delivery and professionalism.

Type Two Model The request for proposal is being finalized More information will be coming soon The existing fire crew services standing offer will remain The crews will be supplied through a Request for Proposal opportunity which is currently being finalized and additional details will be made available in the coming weeks.  At this point the focus will be on providing fire suppression services but may expand into broader functions in the future.   The existing Fire Crew Services standing offer will remain in place as there will remain a need to have personnel to support fire suppression efforts, and may morph in to a Type Three Fire Crew, which will be more low risk mop up, patrol and gear retrieval.

Looking Ahead: After Action Review

After Action Review The 2017 wildfire and freshet After Action Review has four components: Tier 1 – Organization specific response review Tier 2 – Provincial inter-ministry & agency response review Tier 3 – Province and partners response review Tier 4 – Provincial level response review Tiers 1-3 are operational level reviews that are led by the Province Tier 4 is an independent review of the Province’s response to the wildfire / freshet events & is led by George Abbott & Chief Maureen Chapman www.bcfloodfirereview.ca

Thank you