1. Review of 2017 Wildfire Season
February 8, 2018

2. 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

3. 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

5. Historical Records (1912 – 2017): Hectares Burned

6. 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

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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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It started on July 7 and was rescinded on Sept 15, lasting 70 days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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. 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.

15. 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. 

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. Looking Ahead: After Action Review

19. 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

20. Thank you