British Columbia

[NJFFSA16]

NELSON, B.C. (CP) - Residents and tourism industry operators are
keeping an anxious eye on a wildfire that's been left to burn wild
in Valhalla Provincial Park for over a month.
And a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Land, Water and Air
Protection says the fire will be allowed to continue to burn.
The blaze has destroyed 20 hectares of forest north of Nemo
Creek, high on a mountainside directly across from Silverton, just
north of Nelson.
Because it's in a park, the fire is being allowed to run its
natural course until it burns out or jumps a pre-determined
boundary and scorches more than 100 hectares of forest.
Some people are wondering about the wisdom of it, said Bill
Lander, manager and co-owner of Silverton Resort.
His operation is a seven-cabin spread on the shores of the
Slocan.
Like most of in his business, Ladner's business success rests on
location and views.
Ladner said many of his guests have expressed concerns about the
Nemo fire, which from town has appeared as a collection of large
wafting plumes during the day, and faint, flickering glow by
night.
But Lander said visual beauty doesn't seem to count.
"The trees don't count because they're in a park. I have a
feeling that if the fire was almost anywhere else, they'd be
putting out. That's what kind of bothers me."
But Carolyn Mitchell, communications officer of the Southeast
Fire Centre, said the decision to let the fire burn was not a
budgetary issue.
She said despite heavy winds and an electrical storm that
ignited a dozen new fires in the areas of Kootenay and Slocan lakes
Saturday, the Nemo Creek blaze hardly grew at all.
"That's the part I'm kind of relieved about," said Ladner,
who's managed the resort for ten years.
"I'm not seeing a lot of visual disruption as of now. But I
wonder what it'll look like next year."
The Nemo fire has been burning since it was ignited by a
lighting strike July 23.
Mitchell said it isn't unusual to let nature take its course
with a forest fire.
Some proponents to wild burns say fire rejuvenates undergrowth
and helps attract small animals, and larger ones after that,
especially in old forests like those in Valhalla Park.
Weekend lightning strikes also started a fire in the Fry Creek
region of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy. It will also be
allowed to burn.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press

[NJFFSA16]

OSOYOOS, B.C. (CP) - A forest fire in the Okanagan town of
Osoyoos on Wednesday threatened homes in the area and forced the
closure of Highway 3.
"They're in imminent danger," provincial fire information
officer Mary Ann Leach said of nearby residences.
Traffic was being diverted through Rutland and Rock Creek, Leach
said.
Up to 50 firefighters, four helicopters, five air tankers and
one large water bomber were fighting the blaze that covers about
150 hectares, Leach said late Wednesday.
The fire erupted earlier in the day on steep terrain on
Anarchist Hill, east of Osoyoos.
"We don't know whether it was lightning or what started it,"
Leach said.
Winds of up to 40 kilometres an hour fanned the flames and
spread the fire further, she said.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Two killed as water bomber crashes in B.C.
Last Updated Wed, 16 Jul 2003 18:23:30
CRANBROOK, B.C. - A large four-engine aircraft crashed Wednesday while helping to fight a forest fire near Cranbrook in southeastern B.C.


Capt. Alex Schenk of the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria said both of the two people on board the Lockheed Electra water bomber died in the crash.

Witnesses report seeing an explosion when the plane hit the ground about eight kilometres south of East Kootenay city.

Schenk said the aircraft is spread over a large area, and the crash caused a fire.

The plane was a Lockheed Electra owned by Air Spray, an Edmonton-based firefighting company.

It has 35 aircraft, including four Electras.



Written by CBC News Online staff


Some updates:

Planes searching for Cessna go to Cranbrook, B.C. to look for water-bomber


CRANBROOK, B.C. (CP) - Two military aircraft that have been searching for a British pilot and his passengers lost in the Rockies were sent Wednesday to search for survivors at the site of a large water-bomber crash south of Cranbrook.

The Cormorant helicopter and a Buffalo airplane stayed only 90 minutes, until it became apparent the water-bomber's two crew members didn't survive. Afterward, the planes resumed their search for the downed aircraft carrying British pilot Adrian Clarke, 32, and his two passengers, Natasha Norquay-Gerber, 20, of Calgary, and her 29-year-old boyfriend Padraic Burke.

Their Cessna 172 disappeared as they flew from Golden, B.C., to the Springbank Airport near Calgary a week ago.

Thunderstorms and hail were reported in the area at the time the Cessna vanished.

Searchers anticipate they will complete their 4,4000 square-kilometre search by Thursday evening.

Rescuers used several different planes to survey the area nar Field, B.C., where they believe the plane is most likely resting, but nothing was found.

Clarke was a novice pilot with only about 120 hours flying experience under his belt before Tuesday. His passengers had known him only a short time.

The Canadian Press, 2003

07/16/2003 23:49 EST

Okanagan forest fire doubles overnight to cover 1,000 hectares


OSOYOOS, B.C. (CP) - More than 80 firefighters were battling a large forest fire Thursday that doubled in size overnight east of this Okanagan community.

The blaze covered about 1,000 hectares and emergency crews were determining whether they should bring in additional help, Kevin Matuga, a fire information officer, said Thursday. "The fire continued to spread overnight and it is continuing to spread today," he said. "We expected that, given how dry it is in the area and the kind of weather conditions we are seeing."

The community of Osoyoos, located three kilometres west of the burning area, is not threatened, he said.

But the blaze, which is more than twice the size of Stanley Park in Vancouver, has forced officials to put 32 households in a rural area known as Anarchist Mountain on evacuation alert.

Some people have voluntarily left their homes and two structures were destroyed in the fire, but Matuga couldn't confirm the building type.

"In this area there are homes and outbuildings," he said, adding that crews were able to save numerous homes Wednesday, although some did receive exterior damage.

Weather in the region is forecast to remain hot and dry throughout the weekend.

The cause of the fire is still unknown.

Two water bombers and helicopters were also being used to fight the fire.

Highway 3 near Anarchist Mountain was closed Wednesday afternoon due to poor visibility from smoke.

It was reopened Thursday at about noon, but officials warned it could be closed again if conditions worsened.

The Canadian Press, 2003

07/17/2003 17:07 EST

RCMP to begin search for bodies after B.C. water bomber crash


CRANBROOK, B.C. (CP) - RCMP were planning to begin searching Thursday for the remains of two pilots whose water bomber crashed while fighting a small forest fire in eastern British Columbia.

RCMP released the names of pilot Ian MacKay, 41, of Rossland, B.C., and co-pilot Eric Ebert, 36, of Toronto in a news release. "They did not survive," said Tim Neal, a fire information officer for the B.C. Forest Service. Witnesses said their plane, a four-engine Lockheed Electra, exploded after hitting the ground.

The men were battling a small blaze that has since been extinguished.

But the crash sparked another fire that grew to about 5.4 hectares, which was expected to be contained by late Thursday, said Geoff Green, a regional fire information officer.

"They do have a containment line all the way around," he said Thursday morning. "We have just over 40 firefighters working on it."

Three helicopters were involved with fighting the blaze, he said.

MacKay and Ebert were both employees of Air Spray Ltd. of Edmonton, which owns fire-suppression planes in British Columbia and Alberta.

A federal Transportation Safety Board official said earlier the crash apparently happened just after the plane dumped a load of flame-retardant materials.

Tankers normally fly low to the ground during fire-fighting runs and the plane could have had as much as 8,000 kilograms of fuel on board, said the official.

The cause of the crash was still unknown Thursday, but RCMP said weather conditions in the area were good at the time of the accident.

According to the company's Web site, Air Spray owns and operates 35 aircraft, providing forest-fire protection for the Alberta and B.C. governments.

The Canadian Press, 2003

07/17/2003 17:07 EST

[NJFFSA16]

OSOYOOS, B.C. (CP) - A fire blazing near this southern B.C. town
has grown to 1,200 hectares, fire information officer Kirk Hughes
said Sunday.
Hughes said the Osoyoos blaze is now about 40 per cent
contained, down from 60 per cent on Saturday.
The fire on Anarchist Mountain has destroyed two buildings but
no one has yet been hurt.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation but the B.C.
Forest Service has said that because of a lack of lightning in the
area, the blaze may have been sparked by people.
Fire crews were also battling to tame a 2,400-hectare blaze
burning west of Williams Lake on Sunday.
The fire broke out Friday afternoon along a highway on the
northeast side of Tatla Lake.
Seventy-two firefighters, a water bomber and three air tankers
were fighting the out-of-control blaze that has forced five home
evacuations.
Those evacuees have now returned to their homes, Fire
Information Officer Kila Whitehead said Sunday
Water bombers were also fighting a 100-hectare blaze in
Beaverdale east of Penticton on Sunday.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

VANCOUVER (CP) - Hot, dry weather complicated by the threat of
lightning has the B.C. Forest Service comparing this summer's fire
situation to those in 1998 and 1994, when fires raged across the
province.
"To give you an idea of how much potential for ignition is out
there, precipitation levels in 2003 are lower than what they were
in 1998 and 1994," B.C. fire information officer Steve Bachop said
Tuesday.
"Through the next two to three weeks we're getting into the
lightning period," he added.
Temperatures in the Interior region are in the mid-30 degrees
Celsius but are expected to cool a degree or two each day by the
end of the week, according to Environment Canada.
However, campfires and open burning are banned.
"What's frustrating from our perspective is that we know many
of the fires are preventable," said Bachop, who said 143 of the
197 fires now burning were caused by people.
A fire that has been burning near Osoyoos for two weeks was
started by sparks from a passing truck. High wind helped the fire
quickly spread to 12 square kilometres.
"Two houses were lost. One was a home that was under
construction, the other was an existing log home," said Kirk
Hughes, a fire information officer on the scene. Hughes said the
fire did not threaten Osoyoos, a town of 4,000, but "the potential
was there.'
Fire crews have established a perimeter around the fire and are
gradually closing the circle, putting out the flames with heavy
equipment, hoses and shovels.
"We're in a process of mopping up. It's going to be a long,
slow process," said Hughes, explaining it will take several weeks
before the 200 firefighters finish the job.
A small wildfire near Champion Lakes Provincial Park may have
been started by all-terrain vehicles or off-road motorcycles, a
spokesman for province's Southeast Fire Centre said Tuesday.
"When someone takes a spill and the bike falls to the ground
the muffler can start something," Geoffrey Green said.
While investigators are still looking into the cause of the
weekend fire, there are "tell-tale signs," said Green.
Aerial tankers from the Castlegar air tanker base made several
drops on and around the fire Sunday.
A 35-square kilometre fire burning near Chilko Lake, west of
Williams Lake, was 40 per cent contained Tuesday and crews had
built guards around several homes in the area, although 17
residences are on evacuation alert.
Six kilometres northeast of Sicamous, helicopters continued to
drop water on a blaze measured at one-square kilometre that was 75
per cent contained.
Forest Service officials were also monitoring a fire in the
Flathead River Valley in Montana in case it begins to approach the
Canadian border. (Vancouver Sun, Trail Daily Times)


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[mcaldwell]

Could it get any thicker out here?

I have not seen a summer this hot and dry in my ten years out here. The smoke from those Okanagan fires are choking us out pretty badly.

Lightning lit a couple of fire within sight of the resort last night, but thankfully quick work by the rapattack crews got them under control today.

I love the warm sunny weather, but I'm about ready to start the bloody snowmaking system. :)

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Fire north of Kamloops, B.C., forces people to leave homes: information officer


KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - A wildfire forced some residents of a rural area called McLure north of Kamloops to leave their homes, a B.C. fire information officer said Thursday night.

Fire information officer Steve Bachop said he understood at least 15 homes had been evacuated. "In some cases I believe the fire is within a couple hundred metres of a few of those homes," said Bachop. "It's grown considerably since it was first detected (Wednesday), mainly due to the wind and the dryness of the fuels in that area," said Bachop. The blaze was estimated to be about 10 square kilometres, or 1,000 hectares, on Thursday night.

"The fire is situated in an area that has homes scattered throughout the valley bottom," said Kevin Matuga, a local fire information officer.

"With the kind of volatile situation we're seeing right now, the ever changing and shifting winds, the fire has got closer to the houses in some areas."

Matuga said it was too hot for crews to get close with equipment.

"It's burning very aggressively and given the kind of heat it's giving off right now, there's no way we can get crews anywhere near it," said Matuga.

Earlier in the day, B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong said hot, dry weather conditions had sparked more than 200 forest fires in British Columbia are unprecedented.

"This is not a normal year by any stretch of the imagination," de Jong said Thursday. "We'll get an aerial crew in (to a fire zone) right now much quicker than perhaps in other less dry conditions."

De Jong played down the seriousness of British Columbia's 242 forest fires reported Thursday by the B.C. Forest Service.

He said he's counting on the public to do their part to make sure no other forest fires are started.

"This is not a call to panic by any means it's simply my desire that people be aware of just how bad a situation (this) is," said de Jong.

"We think we can contain it and the people on the ground are doing a great job but we need all the help we can get."

Hot weather and variable winds continued to challenge crews battling British Columbia's largest wildfire, a 60-square-kilometre inferno burning northeast of Chilko Lake.

Eight helicopters, more than 130 personnel and heavy equipment have contained about thirty per cent of the blaze Thursday.

A wildfire burning 20 kilometres north of Fernie also grew to just over a square kilometre.

Swirling winds caused by a passing thunderstorm carried embers outside the fire guard and caused the fire to spread, the forest service said.

The backcountry areas of a B.C. park just across the border from a massive U.S. wildfire were also closed.

The backcountry areas of Cathedral Provincial Park were closed to recreational use late Wednesday afternoon.

The Farewell Creek wildfire in Washington has been burning within a few kilometres of the park since last week.

A portable retardant-mixing station was being set up on the B.C. side of the border south of Keremeos so that helicopters fighting the fire could operate more efficiently.

Despite more than 150 dry-lightning strikes overnight, the number of new fires on Thursday were fewer than expected, fire information officer Steve Bachop said.

Bachop said about 54 fires were sparked Wednesday night.

The B.C. government also said Highway 3 west of Crowsnest Pass in southeastern British Columbia was also still open to all traffic despite a major fire on the Alberta side of the border.

Residents and visitors driving the highway would experience some smoky conditions but not enough to warrant closing the road, the provincial emergency program said in a news release.

The Canadian Press, 2003

08/1/2003 0:46 EST

[RspctFrmCalgary]

Evacuation alert for 1,800 Barriere, B.C., residents due to fire threat


KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - A fast-moving forest fire north of here forced officials to put 1,800 people in the small town of Barriere on evacuation alert early Friday.

The fire has already claimed three structures in the area. Some 30 homes with 40 residents were evacuated in community of McLure, 40 kilometres north of here. The nearby First Nation's village of Louis Creek, with about 20 people, was ordered evacuated Friday morning.

The residents of Barriere, about 60 kilometres north of Kamloops, were told to be ready to leave on a moment's notice.

B.C. Forest Service spokesman Bill Bachop said the fire now may be larger than an earlier estimate of 25 square kilometres because of gusty winds in the area.

He said power was out in and around McLure, the Yellowhead Highway was shut down, and the CN Railway line had been closed.

The operations chief on the fire went up in a helicopter to assess its size, the damage, and how crews might attack the fire.

The evacuees from McLure, a scattered rural community, left their homes Thursday night.

Residents were directed to emergency service centres in Barriere and Kamloops, said Glen Plummer, an information officer with the provincial emergency program.

"They will register the evacuees and provide them with temporary lodging and necessities as needed," he said.

Plummer couldn't say how many people had been affected by the evacuation.

"This happened far too fast," said Plummer.

The fire, which started Wednesday, grew ten-fold from its initial estimate of two square kilometres Thursday.

McLure evacuees were sent to area hotels, but those resources in Barriere were quickly filled.

Hot weather and variable winds also continued to challenge crews battling British Columbia's largest wildfire, a 60-square-kilometre inferno burning northeast of Chilko Lake.

Eight helicopters, more than 130 personnel and heavy equipment have contained about thirty per cent of the blaze Thursday.

The backcountry areas of a B.C. park just across the border from a massive U.S. wildfire were also closed.

The backcountry areas of Cathedral Provincial Park were closed to recreational use late Wednesday afternoon.

The Canadian Press, 2003

08/1/2003 13:15 EST

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - Hot, dry weather and gusting
winds Sunday spread the worst forest fires in a half-century across
more of western Canada, consuming dozens of buildings and forcing
the evacuation of 11,000 people.
No deaths have been reported.
British Columbia declared a state of emergency to hasten federal
help, with firefighters from neighboring Alberta and Ontario
provinces arriving to help battle 350 blazes. Military troops also
were dispatched to help out.
In neighboring Alberta, another spate of fires threatened a
community in the mountainous region near the border with Montana,
where fire information officer Marty O'Toole reported that fires
were within five miles of the Canadian border.
Alberta officials ordered the evacuation of another 1,000 people
from the town of Blairmore, adding to the 1,100 who already fled
the area.
British Columbia's two most serious fires were north and west of
Kamloops in a region about 180 miles northeast of Vancouver.
The larger fire increased from 1,987 acres in size early Sunday
to 2,125 acres by the afternoon as flames swept through forests and
grasslands dried by a hot summer with little rain recently.
Towering plumes of smoke drifted over Kamloops on Sunday
afternoon as officials hurried to coordinate 700 firefighters
battling blazes on the surrounding mountainsides.
A smoky haze enveloped this city of 80,000, which acts as an
administrative center and gateway to the smaller resort towns of
the province's interior.
One fire has covered more than 39 square miles of forests and
grasslands dried by a hot summer with little rain in recent weeks.
"We were overwhelmed at the start of it," Kamloops Deputy Fire
Chief Dave Marcotte said Sunday. "Right now ... our resources are
back up, our men are rested and we are ready to tackle anything
that happens."
About 3,500 people who fled to Kamloops from the surrounding
area are being sheltered in hotels, houses and the local hockey
arena, officials said.
"I'm holding up good," said Susan Scott, who fled nearby
Hefley Creek. "There's been a lot of community support ... and the
Red Cross has been here."
Al Beaver, an expert with 30 years of experience tracking fires,
said firefighters need up to six days of rain to help extinguish
the blazes.
"I've never experienced fuels at the dryness level they are
here," Beaver said. "Right now nature is really holding all the
trump cards."
Fire still burned Sunday in downtown Barriere and two
subdivisions, authorities said. It also torched Louis Creek, a
village to the south, destroying dozens of homes.
One injury has been reported - a 53-year-old Barriere man was
badly burned on the face and upper body when he stayed behind to
help a neighbor protect his home.
The McLure-Barriere fire was apparently started by a discarded
cigarette, authorities said.
Officials also reported 80 forest fires in the prairie province
of Saskatchewan and 14 fires in neighboring Manitoba, including a
154-square-mile blaze near Thompson in the remote north.
British Columbia officials also were monitoring a
120-square-mile fire at Farewell Creek in neighboring Washington
state.

APTV 08-03-03 2209EDT

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - Wildfires that have forced more than
10,000 southern B.C. residents from their homes are rapidly growing
despite efforts from hard-pressed firefighters, officials said
Sunday.
Although firefighters have made progress in specific areas, new
thermal images and calculations show that three major fires in the
Kamloops area have expanded and the six-day forecast is predicting
more dry, hot weather.
Hampering the firefighting mission is the fact pilots flying the
37 waterbombing planes and helicopters have been working so much
overtime, most now are restricted to 12 flying hours each day, said
Jeff Berry, manager of the B.C. Forest Service air tanker program.
"We have to manage the fleet ... and try to accomplish all of
these core objectives we have out there," he said.
The latest estimates of the McLure-Barriere fire, about 50
kilometres north of Kamloops, found it had spread by almost 30 per
cent compared with Saturday's estimates, now covering more than 84
square kilometres.
There was a bit of good news Sunday afternoon, when emergency
officials lifted part of an evacuation order for a small area on
the west side of the North Thompson River south of McLure after
winds shifted. But the estimated 250 residents were told to be
ready to move again.
Residents of an area north of Barriere near Little Fort were
also give the green light to go home but told to remain on
evacuation alert.
The Strawberry Hill fire, which threatened the Kamloops suburb
of Rayleigh, has grown to about 34 square kilometres from 20 square
kilometres.
And the Cedar Hill blaze, southeast of Kamloops near Falkland,
is 12 kilometres away from Armstrong, a community on evacuation
alert, and is about 8.4 square kilometres in size.
In Alberta, clouds and light showers early Sunday helped crews
trying to contain an out-of-control fire in the Crowsnest Pass
region in the southwest corner of the province.
The rain was not enough to douse the blaze but was welcome
nonetheless after a horrific day Saturday that saw temperatures
above 30 degrees and gusting southwest winds that drove the fire to
within one kilometre of Hillcrest.
However, 1,000 people in the town of Blairmore were told to
leave Sunday, joining remaining 900 residents of Hillcrest as
evacuees.
Meanwhile, Parks Canada reported crews had contained a fire in
Jasper National Park that had started as a controlled burn, but
some park facilities remained closed.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who Saturday extended a state of
emergency to cover the entire province, will visit the Kamloops
area, spokesman Mike Morton said Sunday.
Morton said Campbell was being briefed regularly by telephone
but was awaiting the advice of emergency officials on when it would
be best for him to tour the devastated region. He also plans to
visit evacuation centres, Morton said.
Campbell spoke with Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Sunday about
potential disaster relief but no commitments were received, he
said.
However, Defence Minister John McCallum called B.C. Solicitor
General Rich Coleman on Sunday and told him he would consider
further aid under the disaster financial-assistance program once he
received details about what was needed, said Randy Mylyk,
McCallum's spokesman.
Police in threatened B.C. communities are trying to protect the
evicted residents' homes from looting and vandalism.
"We're in there looking after those homes in the areas in
trying to keep them safe," said Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Mike Stewart.
Officials said they were aware many evacuated residents are
worried about their homes because they don't know if they have been
torched by the blaze. But the fire is too dangerous for to risk
firefighters making detailed damage assessments, an official said.
"These people are going through an awful lot, the evacuees;
they are traumatized,"said Rod Salem of the provincial regional
emergency operations centre.
"Not knowing has got to be the worst thing in the world and we
are moving as fast as we can. But we are not going to put people's
lives in danger to go in and count houses at this point in time."
Speaker Claude Richmond, the B.C. Liberal government's member
for Kamloops, said the uncertainty was hard on evacuees.
"They don't know when they can get back to their homes and they
don't know if they're going to have a home when they do get back
there," he told CBC TV. "They fear for their possessions and all
they can do is sit and wait."
Hundreds of B.C. firefighters were being augmented from with
crews from Alberta, itself facing major fire threats, and Ontario,
as well as about 100 soldiers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian
Light Infantry regiment in Edmonton.
"The military will come in, we will put them through a very
quick bootcamp and they will be on the line, helping us with
firefighting," said Denis Gaudry of the B.C. Forest Service.
The soldiers are getting a crash course in fighting fires in
mountainous terrain and will be assigned to tackle fires that have
been brought under control because they don't have the expertise to
be handle out-of-control fires, said Mylyk..
Ontario has sent more than 350 firefighters and administrators,
as well as value-protection kits designed to protect homes and
other property from fire.
"We've been able to do this because of the rainy weather we've
gotten for the past week or so," said Christine Rosche of
Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources.
"Especially with British Columbia declaring a state of
emergency, it is a priority to help them out. We got a lot of help
from out west with our fires, so we are quite happy to be able to
help them out too."
Waterbombers have been brought in from New Brunswick, Ontario
and Quebec.
There are several areas where it's too dangerous for aircraft to
drop water and retardant on the blaze, Gaudry said.
The province has more than 700 firefighters working these fires.
Most who have been trying to deter the McLure-Barriere blaze from
completely destroying the town of Barriere, Gaudry said.
Others working at the perimeter of the Cedar Hill fire near
Falkland in the Okanagan, successfully stopping it from growing
overnight, he said.
Another 250 people in the First Nations community of Whispering
Pines and a neighbouring subdivision were issued evacuation orders
late Saturday after the McLure-Barriere fire jumped the North
Thompson River.
"Crews were working overnight to establish a guard," said Glen
Plummer, a public information officer for the Provincial Emergency
Program. "The fire is now on both sides of the Thompson River."
With more than 350 fires burning in British Columbia, officials
are mainly concentrating on the fires in the south that have
menaced major communities.
Fire crews will get little help from the weather, Gaudry said.
Temperatures that have hovered in the low-to-mid 30-degree range
may cool a little but "the six-to-10-day outlook looks much the
same."
Thundershowers predicted for Tuesday also bring the threat of
lightning strikes.
Campbell called this is the worst fire season in half a
century.
Richmond said the semi-desert region is used to hot summers
"but this has been the worst.
"It only takes one careless act, one lightning strike, because
the forest is so dry," he said. "The duff on the forest floor is
just like tinder. It can take off on you and you can't keep up with
it."
Finally getting the fires under control always rests with the
ground forces, Berry stressed.
"We don't put out fires from an airplane," said Berry.
About half the fires burning in the province were caused by
people.
The McLure-Barriere fire was apparently started by a discarded
cigarette and the Strawberry Hill fire, threatening the Kamloops
suburb of Rayleigh, and the Cedar Hill fire near Falkland were also
thought to have human causes.
About 3,500 people had registered with emergency social services
in Kamloops, deputy fire chief Dave Marcotte said.
About half were housed in local hotels and motels, with the rest
staying in halls and gymnasiums. They could be moved to hotels once
weekend visitors to the city check out, he said.
"The city of Kamloops continues to run," he said. "We still
have soccer tournaments; we still have swimming meets ..."
The hurried evacuations Friday and Saturday were orderly and
largely trouble-free, said Stewart, adding local RCMP officers were
reinforced by Mounties from the Vancouver area and elsewhere.
"We've had good co-operation from evacuees and the motoring
public," he said.
Asked when Barriere residents will be allowed to return to their
homes, Plummer said: "When the evacuation order is lifted, that's
when they'll know."
Evacuation centres are set up in Kamloops, Vernon and 100 Mile
House.
The province is doling out financial assistance through its
emergency social services to evacuees.
Each person is eligible to receive $150 for new clothing. Adults
and youth are receiving $42.50 for meals each day and children are
getting half that amount. As well, families are getting between $70
and $100 for a hotel room.
B.C. businesses also set up a "Fire Aid" drive, asking people
do donate blankets, water, sleeping bags, pillows and light
clothing for evacuees at dropoff points at London Drugs stores in
the Vancouver area and B.C. Interior.
Telus Corp. said it had restored phone service to 4,200
customers using backup equipment, with 800 customers still waiting
to be reconnected.
B.C. Hydro was working to restore electricity to about 7,500
customers from Kamloops to the Alberta border, with full power
restoration expected to take a week.
Telus also offered residents of Blairmore, Alta., in the
fire-threatened Crowsnest Pass, emergency resources if they need
it, the phone company said.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

By JEREMY HAINSWORTH
Associated Press Writer
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - Al Beaver has spent 30 years
tracking forest fires, and he says what he sees in western Canada
is unprecedented.
Hot, dry weather and gusting winds have fueled wildfires raging
in British Columbia and Alberta. The fires, considered the worst in
50 years, have consumed dozens of buildings and forced 11,000
people to evacuate in mostly rural communities.
"I've never experienced fuels at the dryness level they are
here," Beaver said Sunday. "Right now nature is really holding
all the trump cards."
British Columbia's two most serious fires were north and west of
Kamloops in a region about 180 miles northeast of Vancouver. The
larger of the two had increased from 1,987 acres early Sunday to
2,125 acres by the afternoon, as flames swept through forests and
grasslands dried by a hot summer with little recent rain.
Those fires aren't huge - a fire in Montana is burning 25,000
acres - but they are threatening homes. Alberta officials ordered
the evacuation of another 1,000 people from the town of Blairmore,
adding to the 1,100 who already fled the region.
While no deaths have been reported, British Columbia declared a
state of emergency to hasten federal help, with firefighters from
neighboring Alberta and Ontario provinces arriving to help battle
350 blazes. Soldiers have also been dispatched to help out.
In Alberta, another cluster of fires threatened two communities
in a mountainous region near the border with Montana. Fire
information officer Marty O'Toole reported that flames were within
five miles of the U.S. border.
Plumes of smoke drifted over Kamloops as officials hurried to
coordinate 700 firefighters battling blazes on the surrounding
mountainsides. By nightfall, flames could be seen from the city of
80,000 that serves as administrative center and gateway to smaller
resort towns of the province's interior.
"We were overwhelmed at the start of it," Kamloops Deputy Fire
Chief Dave Marcotte said Sunday. "Our resources are back up, our
men are rested and we are ready to tackle anything that happens."
About 3,500 people who fled to Kamloops from the surrounding
area are staying in hotels, houses and the local hockey arena,
officials said.
Fires still burned Sunday in downtown Barriere and two
subdivisions of the community 40 miles north of Kamloops,
authorities said.
Jack Butcher, a Barriere rescue officer who made it back to the
town Sunday, later stood outside the Kamloops evacuation center
telling people what he saw.
"The camper's there but not the house," he told one
grime-covered couple.
Butcher said 60 homes and several businesses were destroyed,
including the lumber mill.
A 53-year-old Barriere man was badly burned on the face and
upper body when he stayed behind to help a neighbor protect his
home.
The McLure-Barriere fire was apparently started by a discarded
cigarette, authorities said.
Officials also reported 80 forest fires in the prairie province
of Saskatchewan and 14 fires in neighboring Manitoba, including a
98,000-acre blaze near Thompson in the remote north.
British Columbia officials also were monitoring a 76,000-acre
fire at Farewell Creek in neighboring Washington state.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

RAYLEIGH, B.C. (CP) - Residents in this suburb of Kamloops in
southern British Columbia were exhausted but thrilled to return to
their homes Monday, although some said the stench of smoke from
nearby wildfires meant they wouldn't be staying.
"I'm delighted that we're allowed back home but I won't be
staying here," said Joyce Blackburn, who along with 2,800 people
in Rayleigh and nearby Heffley Creek, was forced to flee Friday as
wildfires that still threaten the region came perilously close.
The smoke has created a haze over this small community where the
first house in town is about 20 kilometres from a forest and
mountain charred by flames.
Joe Vieira said he's glad to be home but that he can smell the
smoke inside his home.
"It sticks to your clothes," he said, adding his first impulse
was to water his garden.
Residents in Rayleigh were lucky. The blaze didn't jump the
highway, meaning they had homes to come back to.
Others in neighbouring communities that saw 10,000 people flee
their homes didn't know if their properties had escaped the flames
during the worst fire season the area has experienced in 50 years.
Fire destroyed much of the village of Louis Creek, near
Barriere, including its sawmill.
Late Monday, 200 rural residents were forced to leave the
Thompson-Nicola Regional District, about an hour's drive from the
Sun Peaks Resort northeast of Kamloops.
Several other areas remain on evacuation alert, meaning
residents must be ready to flee at short notice.
Officials also warned so-called fire tourists that they weren't
welcome in the ravaged areas.
"The last thing they need is to become a tourist attraction,"
Rod Salem of the Provincial Emergency Program told a news
conference.
The lifting of the evacuation order for Raleigh and Heffley
Creek came after a series of fires - thought to have been caused by
careless people - began racing through parched forest and
grasslands about 300 kilometres northeast of Vancouver last week.
The speed and power of the blazes forced B.C. Premier Gordon
Campbell to declare a state of emergency in the Thompson-Nicola
District covering the biggest fires at McLure and Barriere. It was
extended to the whole province after another blaze mushroomed in
Cedar Hills, near Falkland, in the Okanagan. The fire is about 100
kilometres southeast of Kamloops.
On Monday, high winds fanned the McLure and Barriere blazes,
which grew to about 100 square kilometres as thick smoke produced a
choking smell.
The Cedar Hills fire near Falkland also doubled in size to 14
square kilometres due to high winds.
Some residents said officials weren't giving them enough
information about whether their homes were still standing.
But Salem said "it's a sensitivity issue" that the majority of
people didn't want to learn about through the media.
"I want to know what's going on," Barriere resident Ray
McDonald told BCTV News on Global. "I need to see what's happened
to my town."
Some desperate residents pleaded with officials for a day pass
so they could enter restricted areas and look after their animals.
But not everyone was granted such a privilege.

Many people left hurriedly, throwing a few valuables and
keepsakes in their vehicles while forced to abandon pets and
livestock.
Fire refugees flooded into emergency centres in Kamloops and
Vernon but others camped in their cars outside the danger zone,
wondering how they would get word when it was safe to go home.
The so-called Strawberry Hill fire threatening Rayleigh was
visible from Kamloops. Crews were successful in containing the
blaze, which had grown overnight.
Thermal images taken Sunday and Monday showed the fires have
continued to grow, despite constant aerial bombing with fire
retardant by a fleet of 37 aircraft and relentless attack by
ground-based firefighters.
The army fighting the blazes is getting support from across
Canada, including a contingent of soldiers from Edmonton.
Almost 2,000 firefighters are battling about 306 fires in the
province at a cost of $2.5 million a day. Weather forecasts called
for temperatures this week to approach the mid-30-degree range,
with no sign of rain.
B.C. residents were pitching in for a massive relief effort that
includes donating water, bedding and other essentials for the
evacuees.
B.C. Hydro was hoping to provide backup power to key areas by
Monday evening, although permanent repairs were expected to take up
to five weeks.
Residents were asked to keep electrical consumption to a minimum
as damage is assessed to transmission and distribution lines and
repair work gets underway.
Phone service was also being restored in the areas most affected
by the fires.
Neighbouring Alberta was fighting its own battle, with almost
2,000 people forced out of Blairmore and Hillcrest in the Crowsnest
Pass area near the southern B.C. border.
British Columbia and Alberta are the worst hit during the
summer's scorching fire season that has left thousands without a
home.
Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Mike Stewart said "fire tourism" is causing
a grave concern for police as people stop on the sides of highways
to take pictures.
"We have people running across the highway, cars parking in
some places two deep already," Stewart said.
"We're concerned for the people," he said. "There's thousands
of residents who have to go back to Heffley and Rayleigh and we
don't want any accidents that will cause us to require manpower to
deal with those."
Rayleigh residents have also been asked to boil their water.
Dr. Peter Rieben, medical health officer for the Interior Health
Authority, said the top of the town's reservoir was damaged in the
fire and water was exposed to air, which makes it difficult to
maintain proper chlorine levels.
An evacuation alert was still in place for dozens of other areas
while fire officials continually assessed weather conditions such
as lightning and wind.
Meanwhile, fire crews from B.C. were joining the effort to
battle a blaze in neighbouring Washington state, just south of
Keremeos, B.C.
The Farewell Creek fire, which has been burning since June 29,
has been threatening to cross into Canada.
"We are establishing a fire control line on the 49th parallel
in case the (Americans') contingency fails," said Denis Gaudry, a
spokesman for the B.C. Forest Service.
He said an investigator probing the Strawberry Hill blaze was
not able to turn up a specific cause but that it's been determined
the fire started near a commonly used rest stop where someone may
have tossed a cigarette butt on the side of the road.
The investigator discovered about 60 cigarette butts within
about 60 metres of the area, Gaudry said.
People were also continuing to set off fireworks celebrating the
B.C. Day long weekend, despite a ban during the dry conditions.
Gaudry warned those caught using fireworks will be fined.
"If we can link a fire back to somebody that's used fireworks
illegally they can be held responsible for the full cost of the
fire," he added.
Gaudry asked retailers selling fireworks to let people know they
shouldn't be using them until conditions improve.
"We know that by next Wednesday there's a 30 per cent chance of
lightning coming and I don't want to have to use any of our
resources that we've got waiting for those lightning events."
In other developments:
- About 104 fire personnel from Ontario left for Kamloops,
B.C., on Sunday.
- A total of 559 fire rangers and support staff from Ontario
are in B.C., Alberta and Manitoba.
- Ontario has also temporarily donated two water bomber
aircraft to B.C., and four to Alberta. The planes are designed to
douse the blaze from the air.
- In Quebec, seven forest fires were burning Monday, mainly in
the northeastern part of the province. None were near populated
areas and the forest fire danger in the province is moderate. All
the blazes were caused by lightning.
- Quebec has sent five water bombers to help fight forest
fires in B.C. and Manitoba, said Gerard Lacasse, a spokesman for
the Quebec Forest Fire Prevention Service. The province has also
sent 2,000 fire hoses to Alberta.
- Forest fires were not a major threat in Eastern Canada.
Some residents on the west side of the North Thompson River near
McLure and at Little Fort, north of Barriere, were also allowed to
return home Sunday but told to stay on alert to flee again if
conditions changed.
Campbell is expected Tuesday to fly over areas where evacuation
orders are still in place.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein and cabinet ministers Mike Cardinal
and Dave Coutts were scheduled to tour the Crowsnest Pass area
Monday afternoon.
Campbell spoke to Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Sunday about
federal disaster aid, but specific help would wait until detailed
estimates of the impact of the fires could be prepared.
A spokesman for Defence Minister John McCallum said Sunday that
aid would be considered under Ottawa's disaster
financial-assistance program.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Exhausted
crews battling western Canada's worst wildfire conditions in
decades made progress on Monday against some of the largest
blazes, allowing some of the estimated 8,500 evacuated people
to return to their homes.
Officials stressed that with the weather forecast calling
for stronger winds, lightning and no rain, the fight was far
from over against the fires burning out of control near
Kamloops, about about 170 miles (275 km) northeast of
Vancouver.
"We're in for the long haul. It's going to be a serious
fight," said Kevin Matuga, of the Kamloops Fire Center.
Winds were also hampering the fight against a blaze in the
Crowsnest Pass region of southwestern Alberta's Rocky
Mountains, which has forced up to 2,000 people to leave.
No deaths have been reported from the fires, but several
dozen homes have been destroyed or damaged. Officials estimate
5,000 people are now under evacuation orders with another 5,000
on high alert.
The entire province of British Columbia, about the size of
Germany and France combined, is under a state of emergency as
dry conditions created what officials said was the most
dangerous wildfire conditions in a half century.
The most troublesome blaze near Kamloops was the
20,760-acre (8,400-hectare) McLure fire to the north that
forced people to evacuate last week and destroyed a sawmill
and up to 75 homes near Louis Creek and Barriere.
Buildings were gutted and burned telephone poles hung from
wires, but firefighters said they were able to protect many
houses in Barriere.
"This town is going to be hurting for a long time," said
Wayne McGregor, one of the few residents allowed to visit his
home. "I guess I'm a lucky one, it's still here."
Other evacuees expressed anger that officials have refused
to release more details of the damage, even prohibiting
journalists from taking photographs of burnt houses in case
residents might recognize them.
"I want to go home. I want to know what's going on," Ray
McDonald, who like other Barriere residents has been out of his
home since Friday.
Nearly 3000 residents of an outlying Kamloops neighborhood
were allowed home, but warned to remain on alert should the
winds push the fire toward them. Residents of a nearby Indian
reservation were also allowed back.
Officials were also watching a fire near Falkland,
southeast of Kamloops, that has grown to more than 3,450 acres
(1,400 hectares). It has forced several hundred people to
evacuate and residents of the town of Armstrong with about
4,250 residents remains on alert, officials said.
Fire crews and Canadian military personnel were being
brought in to help tired firefighters in British Columbia and
Alberta.

Reut21:03 08-04-03

[NJFFSA16]

SQUAM VALLEY, B.C. (CP) - Ranchers and loggers in this rugged
forested area are building fireguards and soaking their houses,
desperately defending their land from a nearby raging wildfire.
Tears welled up in Donna Margan's eyes as she watched 75-metre
flames stand above tall dry trees approaching her acreage.
"I just keep hoping for the best," said Morgan, who was forced
to leave her mobile home about 60 kilometres northeast of Kamloops
after officials issued an evacuation order for the area.
"I've lived here for almost 25 years and I can't imagine living
anywhere else," she said as she watched the blaze lick the forest
about one kilometre from her house.
Since leaving her home, Morgan has been busy making peanut
butter and jam sandwiches in a neighbour's garage for locals who
are working around the clock, taking prevention measures to protect
their property and livestock.
They are busy relocating livestock, installing sprinklers on
roof tops, spraying brush with fire retardant and knocking down
trees to build fireguards near and around their homes.
Even those who have lost their homes are helping fight fires.
In his 23 years, Shawn Farrow has had two homes charred by fires
- once when he was nine, and last Friday night, when a wildfire
ravaged a trailer park in his nearby village of Louis Creek.
Returning to his home village Saturday, Farrow was shocked to
see the black earth and scorched homes and trailers that have
melted into piles of ashes.
"The only thing that didn't get torched is my cedar chair," he
said, rolling a video that he took as evidence. "And look, it's
bone dry and was left in perfect shape."
Putting aside his personal loss, Farrow is now helping ranchers
build lengthy fireguards, dragging logs from the bush with a
skidder.
Running on adrenaline and little sleep, Ross Huber has been busy
running a skidder with a 1,300-litre water tank, building a
fireguard on pasture land.
"There are lots of locals who want to help," said Huber, a
rancher who stopped working to devour a couple of peanut butter
sandwiches.
"We're just figuring out where help is needed to try to slow
this fire down."
Many of the self-assigned firefighting crews are frustrated that
they have not had any assistance from the province. They bitterly
point out that they haven't seen any of the 700 firefighters who
have been fighting the wildfires, and periodically see a helicopter
pass by with an empty water bucket.
"We've got to do this work ourselves because nobody else is
going to do it," said Leo Huber, after making a firewall by
digging a swath of sand with a skidder near his cattle ranch.
"It's really, really frustrating."
Provincial Emergency Program officials have said that
firefighters and aerial water bombers have been concentrating most
of their efforts at Barriere, 50 kilometres northeast of Kamloops,
where fire has surrounded the entire town.
Steve Mosdell, a logger who owns an acreage next to Huber, said
he understands that crews are working to protect the densely
populated towns, but it's little comfort for those in rural areas.
"If we just sat back and let them do things, we'd be burned
out."


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - It could be weeks before evacuees from a
fire-ravaged part of southern British Columbia can return home, an
official said Wednesday as one blaze grew by 30 per cent.
Many of those who fled the wildfires may not have home
insurance. Half of the first 150 evacuees that officials have
talked to said they do not own property insurance.
"We were quite surprised to hear the number is about half,"
said John Smith of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District's
emergency operations centre.
Those people will likely be compensated jointly by the province
and federal government, but by how much remains to be seen, Smith
said.
More than 3,500 residents who fled the racing McLure-Barriere
fire last Friday have been anxiously awaiting word when it might be
safe for them to go home. But the news was not encouraging.
The fire about 40 kilometres north of here expanded by about 50
square kilometres from Tuesday to Wednesday, driven by winds
gusting up to 80 kilometres an hour.
Strong winds and thunderstorms are being predicted for the next
couple of days.
"Right now the determining factor in whether these fires will
continue to spread is the wind," said Kevin Matuga, an information
officer for B.C. Forest Service.
"With these localized thunderstorms we are expecting some
fairly heavy gusts, in some cases 65 to 80 kilometres an hour," he
said. "We do expect the fires to spread in various locations of
the perimeter."
Thermal imaging now puts the fire at about 166 square
kilometres.
Police believe that many of the 385 fires burning in southern
B.C. were ignited by careless smoking.
And with hundreds of forest fires burning throughout the
province, police are warning that anyone caught starting a fire
will be fined up to $1 million and/or receive a three-year prison
sentence.
RCMP also warned smokers who do not properly put out cigarettes
will be charged with several offences, including failing to
extinguish or report a fire, dropping a burning substance or
failing to comply with restricted-area regulations. Fines for those
offences range from $58 to $345.
No charges have been so far laid in recent fires, as
investigators continue to look for the culprits, Kamloops RCMP Mike
Stewart said.
An evacuation order was issued Wednesday for an area on the west
side of the North Thompson River threatened by the expansion but an
official said it is sparsely populated wilderness with some remote
fly-in fishing camps.
The McLure-Barriere blaze, the largest of three major wildfires
in the Kamloops area, still remains active in many areas, said
Matuga.
"There's a whole bunch of perimeter there that's unprotected,"
he said. "We're not seeing the fire behaviour that we saw
yesterday, it's increased but not substantial."
However firefighters' inability to contain the blaze means it's
not likely residents will be allowed to go home soon, Smith said.
A decision on re-entry depends on assessments from the fire
commissioner and forest service, he said.
"But if the question was, would it be days, versus weeks,
versus months, we're probably looking at weeks," said Smith.
However, many residents ignored the evacuation order and are
still in areas of Barriere where fires are not burning. For their
safety, a boil-water order was issued Wednesday. The town currently
doesn't have the electricity it needs to diffuse chlorine through
the drinking water system.
The prime minister and the senior federal minister for British
Columbia promised Wednesday that Ottawa is ready with aid once
needs are accurately determined.
The Red Cross also made a public appeal for funds for long-term
help for evacuees.
The day was more stable for other B.C. towns battling fires.
The Strawberry Hill blaze, adjacent to the Kamloops suburbs of
Rayleigh and Heffley Creek, remained at about 42 square kilometres.
The Cedar Hills fire near Falkland, in the Okanagan Valley south of
here, grew slightly to 15 square kilometres.
The fires forced about 10,000 people to flee their homes last
week.
About 4,000 residents of Rayleigh and Heffley Creek were allowed
back earlier this week but told to stay on evacuation alert.
Police and fire officials said Wednesday they ran into problems
Tuesday night with some homeowners who have refused to obey new
evacuation orders connected with the Strawberry Hill blaze.
"The RCMP had to re-enter that area when it became more
dangerous at six o'clock last night," said Brian McMurdo of the
regional fire commissioner's office.
Damage-assessment teams began going through the ravaged region
Tuesday and started informing individual property owners about
their losses Wednesday.
Officials had conducted confidential, one-on-one interviews with
about 150 residents in the Louis Creek, giving the evacuees
information on property damage, including photographs, maps and
lists of hazards to residents' homes and land.
About 1,000 firefighters, bolstered by more than 100 soldiers
from Edmonton, were working with three dozen planes and helicopters
to control the Kamloops-area blazes.
The McLure-Barriere fire appears to have spared most of
Barriere, with a population of about 3,500 including surrounding
communities. One of them, Louis Creek, has been razed to the
ground, along with its sawmill, a key local employer.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell toured the devastated region by air
Tuesday, then landed at Louis Creek. He described the charred
village as "awful and awesome."
"There's virtually no structures left standing," he said.
"The mill is a flat chunk of land. You can see sort of charred
areas where something may have once been and you guess what it once
was."
In neighbouring Alberta, firefighters were also watching the
weather as they fought the 180-square-kilometre Lost Creek fire,
which had forced almost 2,000 people out of the Crowsnest Pass
towns of Blairmore and Hillcrest.
The threat eased enough Wednesday for officials to allow about
1,000 people from Hillcrest to return home.
Elsewhere, the Chilko Lake fire in central B.C. was estimated at
300 square kilometres Wednesday, by far the largest blaze in the
province, but it threatens no major communities.
Campbell declared a state of emergency for the region last
Friday, then extended it to cover all of British Columbia as the
province dealt with almost 350 active fires.
Campbell spoke with Prime Minister Jean Chretien on the weekend
about getting federal disaster aid.
"He said they obviously have the federal disaster programs,
which are available," he said. "We have simply notified Ottawa
that we think we will be coming to them for some assistance."
Chretien promised Wednesday to provide federal disaster relief
for British Columbia.
"Once everything is settled, we'll evaluate the disaster and
the federal government will make a financial contribution in
accordance with the law," Chretien said while hosting French
President Jacques Chirac in Shawinigan, Que.
The prime minister, who did not mention a dollar amount, denied
a suggestion Ottawa has reacted slowly in offering assistance.
Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal, the federal Liberals'
B.C. political minister, said the under the Disaster Financial
Assistance Program, provinces can receive up to 90 per cent federal
relief.
"Generally speaking, the higher the damage the larger the
percentage that the assistance plan would provide support for,"
Dhaliwal said from Vancouver. "Disasters of this nature should be
able to access that fund."
Red Cross spokeswoman Leslie Vryenhoek appealed for public cash
donations to help deal with the long-term needs of those out of
their homes.
"We know from our experience in disaster events like this that
there will be losses and needs that are not insured and are not
covered by other funds," she said.
"So the aim of this fund is to fill those gaps and ensure
people's needs are met."
The cost of fighting the fires themselves is borne by the
province. British Columbia has already ripped through its
$55.5-million firefighting budget. It's spent about $54 million
with weeks left in the peak wildfire season.
It's costing between $2.5 million and $3 million a day to fight
the fires in the province, Campbell said, but it will take time to
estimate how much damage has been done.
Campbell said in an interview that the government's cost-cutting
strategy has not hampered efforts to fight the fires.
"As we go over the fire budget we're going to have to use some
contingency for that," he said. "That's what contingencies are
for and we'll get through this.
"I can tell you the budget will not in any way restrict our
commitment to protecting people, to providing public safety and to
fight these fires."
B.C. Hydro said it could be up to five weeks before it can
repair all the damage to power lines caused by wildfires in the
Kamloops region.
About 4,700 people remain without electricity as a result of the
fires.
Hydro has set up emergency diesel generators in several areas
and expects to have more generators in operation in the next day or
so until permanent repairs are made to power lines.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - Just a day after one emergency
official said it could be weeks before area wildfire evacuees would
be allowed to return, authorities were scrambling to allow
thousands to return home Friday, although small fires are burning
near many homes.
"Essentially all of us folks are products of the politicians
and we make happen what it is they want to do, if of course it is
safe and we can do it in a reasonable fashion," John Smith, of the
Thompson-Nicola Regional District's emergency operations center,
said Thursday.
"Some of the players were quite hesitant to do this but the
bottom line is there is a political will on both the provincial
counterparts and I can tell you on the local politicians to see
these folks move back into their properties as soon as possible."
On Wednesday, Smith said evacuees might not see their homes for
weeks. But on Thursday he said fire officials were ordered to get
the evacuees safely back in their homes within 24 hours.
He said the decision was made in a telephone conversation with
politicians, including B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong and
federal Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal.
Brian McMurdo of the provincial fire commissioner's office said
there are fires burning near the homes of evacuees.
"There are hot spots all along the highway, there are burns
continuing I'm sure as we speak today," he said.
There is also concern about the stability of Highway 5 - the
provincial highway that is the main route for most evacuees, Smith
said.
"There are rocks coming down, there are trees that are unstable
and also there will be issues of access (and) movement because
there still are fire crews in the area ...," he said.
Although the numbers of evacuees have fluctuated, Smith said
some 6,500 residents would be going back home if the provincial
fire commissioner deems the area safe.
B.C. Forest Service officials believe it is safe for evacuees to
return home, de Jong said.
"But in towns like Barriere, for example - a town largely
served by propane gas - as we speak there are officials on the
ground making sure there aren't gas leaks and when the power goes
on there aren't explosions," he added.
Dhaliwal toured the fire-damaged areas by helicopter on
Thursday.
More than 10,000 people were forced from their homes last week
by fast-moving fires that burned north of Kamloops and near
Falkland, in the north Okanagan, about 60 miles southeast of here.
About 4,000 have been allowed to return home to some Kamloops
suburbs threatened by the Strawberry Hill blaze.
However, evacuees from the worst-hit areas from McLure to
Barriere, about 30 miles north of here, have been kept away from
their homes as a 70-square-mile fire rages.
The largest fire, which razed the village of Louis Creek but
spared the town of Barriere, was still burning out of control, said
Kevin Matuga, a fire information officer with B.C. Forest Service.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - Some of the thousands of forest fire
evacuees who returned home over the weekend have pulled out again
because of smoke-filled air, the stench of rotting food and
intermittent electricity.
"I'm quite surprised they are telling people to come back,"
said Sharon Lane, who returned after 10 days away from her home in
Barriere. "If you had health issues, you wouldn't want to be
here."
Like many other evacuees, Lane and her husband Mark arrived to
discover their house reeked of spoiled fish, meat and dairy
products because the refrigerator was, and sometimes still is,
without power.
"It is nasty," said Lane, who returned Sunday but stayed only
a few hours to clean and air out her house, then left again to stay
with friends in a nearby community that wasn't so hit so hard by
wildfires.
An evacuation order was lifted on Friday and Saturday for 6,500
residents of several communities 40 to 70 kilometres northeast of
Kamloops.
Officials warned at the time that people with health problems
might postpone heading back because the area was still shrouded in
thick smoke from smouldering wildfires.
Those who did return found sporadic electrical and telephone
service. There was no fuel or food to stock empty refrigerators
because gas stations and retail stores were closed.
There is also a water boil order in effect for the town of
Barriere, 50 kilometres north of Kamloops, because there was no
electricity to pump chlorine into the water system.
Officials tried to forewarn returning residents about the
conditions they would face - advising them to load up on gas,
batteries, flashlights bottled water and food for two days - but
not everyone got the message.
The fire, which has consumed almost 200 square kilometres,
started in the town of McLure, about 40 kilometres north of
Kamloops, and swept through Louis Creek, toward Barriere.
The blaze is 50 per cent contained but is still raging out of
control in a sparsely populated area north of Barriere, where a few
dozen people remain under an evacuation order.
So far, damage estimates to properties in the Kamloops-area
fires come to $8.2 million, which includes the destruction of 39
houses, 26 trailer homes, 99 sheds and barns, as well as house
contents. It doesn't include the Louis Creek sawmill, other
businesses and hundreds of gutted vehicles.
Meanwhile, crews have been working around the clock for the past
few days, clearing roads of fallen rock and replacing burned
telephone poles and electrical wires.
Provincial crews will soon begin scouring charred forests to
remove dead livestock and wildlife because the rotting carcasses
are a threat to the groundwater.
Highway 5 north of Kamloops remains closed to regular traffic
but is open for residents north of Heffley Creek to Barriere.
Provincial officials say the road is closed to other drivers at the
request of residents who don't want "fire tourists" gawking
around their communities.
The residents turfed from their homes on Aug. 1 were hastily
ordered back home by the B.C. government.
One day after it was announced that would likely be weeks before
people could return, B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong toured the
area by helicopter, then told reporters that all evacuees could go
home within 24 hours if it was deemed safe.
An official from an area emergency operations centre said that
some fire officials weren't keen about allowing residents back so
soon.
"Some of the players were quite hesitant to do this but the
bottom line is there is a political will on both the provincial
counterparts and I can tell you on the local politicians to see
these folks move back into their properties as soon as possible,"
said John Smith, director of the Thompson-Nicola Regional
District's emergency operations centre.
Tim Stevenson, an evacuee who returned to his acreage in Paul
Lake, said he suspects residents were prematurely sent home so that
the Premier Gordon Campbell could stop paying evacuees' living
expenses.
"You're looking at Campbell and he wants to save money,"
Stevenson said. "I think this just has to do with politicians, and
sending people back in unsafe conditions isn't right."
At the peak of the evacuation, up to 10,000 people were forced
from their homes.
B.C. emergency social services had offered each evacuee a daily
allowance of $42.50 for food, $70 to $120 for lodging and a
one-time payment of $150 for clothing.
Upon lifting the evacuation order, B.C. Deputy Fire Commissioner
Bob Turley said the fire threatening the communities had been
reduced to an acceptable area and it was safe to return.
But he cautioned that there are numerous hazards in the area so
residents returning home will remain on evacuation alert.
The evacuees with homes to return to were the lucky ones.
Louis Creek, a village of a few hundred, was virtually wiped
out.
"This place is devastated," said 70-year-old Joan Thompson as
she surveyed the charred remains of the home she had moved into
just three weeks ago.
"I wasn't sure whether it would be all gone but what can you
say, what can you do?" Thompson said.
"You get a little upset, you get a little choked."
Down the road, the lumber mill that was the economic mainstay of
the community, employing almost 200, is a mass of twisted,
blackened metal.
Melted metal tables and warped file cabinets are all that
remains of an eight-room office at the mill.
Ironically, bundles of lumber stacked inside an open drying kiln
are untouched by the inferno.
On the highway into Louis Creek, a trailer park of about 12
homes is a graveyard of scorched shells, with a lone trailer
perched on the hill standing unscathed.
A few hundred metres away, the bungalow of Mary and Harry
Griffin remains undamaged, although a workshop, barn and a horse
trailer on the property were destroyed.
Mary, 77, said she isn't happy the house survived.
"I wish it had gone," she said. "All the mess we've got to
clean up, it's going to take us weeks."


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

CTV National News, Tuesday, Aug. 12
MCLURE, B.C. - Volunteer firefighter Michael Barre may have
started a forest fire that has destroyed 65 homes with the careless
disposal of a cigarette butt; some residents blame Barre, others
say it was an accident and under normal conditions wouldn't have
caused the devastation; police have not ruled out criminal charges.

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - A pilot was killed Sunday when
his helicopter crashed while fighting one of the many forest fires
that continued to rage across the British Columbia Interior.
The crash occurred shortly after the Bell 205 helicopter lifted
off from a staging area about 50 miles east of 100 Mile House while
fighting the Bonaparte Lake fire, north of Kamloops.
The copter was seen banking back to the staging area before
witnesses lost sight of it. That was followed by the sound of an
explosion and smoke, said Cpl. Pierre Lemaitre of the Canadian
police.
The pilot, who was alone on board, was a resident of Mission,
B.C., said Lemaitre. His name was not released.
Canadian police could not reach the crash site Sunday because of
fires in the area. Recovery efforts were to resume Monday morning.
More than 3,200 people were fighting 878 active fires that
continued to rage Sunday amid hot, dry weather in the province's
interior.
As many as 500 people were forced to leave their homes east of
Chase over the weekend after the McGillivray fire in the Niskonlith
Lake area grew slightly Saturday night to about 3,000 acres.
An evacuation order issued Saturday afternoon was expanded, said
fire information officer Jim McBride.
"If the fire were to expand and cross the South Thompson River
then there is a concern for the 2,600 (person) village of Chase
residents," he said. Chase is about 31 miles east of Kamloops.
Meanwhile, about 450 people living north of Barriere were
allowed to go home Sunday, though an evacuation alert remained in
effect.
The McLure-Barriere fire blazing near there remained at about
49,000 acres and was about 40 percent contained on Sunday, the B.C.
Forest Service said. Barriere is about 30 miles north of Kamloops.
"The winds are having their way with these fires and it's
causing us a lot of problems," said fire information officer Kevin
Matuga. "We're doing our best but Mother Nature is leading the
cause on this one."
Firefighters were also battling two wildfires south of Kelowna
on Sunday - one north of Chute Lake, the other in Okanagan Mountain
Park. Ten families were evacuated because of the Okanagan Mountain
Park fire.
In southwestern Alberta, 1,200 people driven from their homes by
the 52,000-acre Lost Creek fire were allowed to return on Sunday.
Within half an hour of the announcement, residents began
trickling back to empty homes that had been quickly vacated Monday
night after the fire crept close to their community of Crowsnest
Pass.
Fires in Yoho, Kootenay and Banff parks have reduced visibility
along highways and closed some camping and day-use areas. Pilot
cars were being used to escort traffic through Kootenay National
Park.



(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - At least 200 people living near Barriere,
B.C., were ordered to evacuate Monday evening as a southern
Interior fire that earlier pushed thousands from their homes
refused to be tamed.
The McLure-Barriere fire pushed people out of "a swath of land
to the east of the town of Barriere," said Dave Hall, a spokesman
for the provincial emergency program.
Homes were also emptied in another area south of Barriere,
meaning a combined total of at least 200 residents were told to
leave the two areas and head to Kamloops, said Hall.
"Somewhere over 200 to 250 permanent residents and an unknown
number of cabin owners that may or may not be up at their cabins,"
said Hall. "Possibly as many as 400 may be in the area that we are
asking to leave immediately."
The blaze, which forced thousands of people out of their homes
north of Kamloops two weeks ago, was estimated at about 220 square
kilometres earlier Monday. Most of those people were allowed to
return home.
The area being evacuated was different from another, north of
Barriere, where people were ordered out of their homes Friday.
Those residents have since been allowed back.
RCMP released the name of a 33-year-old Mission helicopter pilot
who died Sunday when his aircraft crashed while fighting a blaze
near 100 Mile House.
Ben von Hardenberg was piloting a Bell helicopter when it
crashed at about 11 a.m.
"Witnesses tell us that they saw the helicopter bank and
attempt to come back to the staging area and they lost sight of him
on the horizon and then saw smoke," said RCMP Cpl. Pierre
Lemaitre.
Efforts to retrieve von Hardenberg's body continued Monday.
The pilot was planning to be married in two weeks and to move to
Australia next month, said his brother Konrad von Hardenberg.
Elsewhere in southern British Columbia, communities edged by
fire got a slight reprieve Monday but the province's stretched
firefighting resources weren't getting a break from the weather.
A fire threatening Chase, about 50 kilometres east of here, was
burning away from the town but its 2,600 residents remained on
evacuation alert.
An an estimated 500 evacuees from a rural area west of town were
still out of their homes Monday after a weekend evacuation order.
More than 140 firefighters and five helicopters were working on
the Chase fire, which was estimated Monday at 22 square kilometres.
Only about 40 per cent of the blaze was contained, officials said.
"We're going to be looking at protecting any structures in the
area," said fire information officer Mary Ann Leach said Monday.
She said crews will try to cut off the eastern edge of the fire
using bulldozers.
"And if weather permits, firefighters may attempt to burn off
any unburned fuel between the control lines and the perimeter of
the fire."
Meanwhile, a fire that began early Saturday in Okanagan Mountain
provincial park grew to 11 square kilometres but a lack of wind was
keeping the fire from moving towards Kelowna, about six kilometres
away, said Carol Suhan, the city's fire information officer.
"Right now there's no breeze at all and it's burning mostly due
east, which is excellent," she said. "On Saturday night it was
burning northeast, right towards the city."
The fire's weekend activity prompted a half-dozen lakeside homes
in the park to be evacuated Saturday night and residents of another
41 homes were put on alert. Suhan estimated 200-250 people were
being affected by the blaze.
She said the B.C. Forest Service intended to double the size of
the 41-member firefighter crew attacking the blaze, which is
visible from the city. A fleet of five helicopters, augmented by
water bombers, were also at work.
Firefighters counterattacked the four-square-kilometre Bonaparte
Lake fire overnight, burning off potential fuel and erecting a fire
guard on the half-contained blaze. Winds in the area were expected
to gust to 40 kilometres an hour.
A evacuation order for as many as 250 people - a rough estimate
because it includes visitors to remote fishing camps - remained in
effect for the Bonaparte Lake area, said Jim McBride, information
officer for the Thompson-Nicola regional district.
Another 60 people were still out of their homes near Heffley
Creek and Louis Creek, north of Kamloops, and 60 more in the
Venables Valley near Ashcroft, 70 kilometres west of Kamloops, he
said. But the Venables fire had reportedly turned away from
Ashcroft.
Further east, a 48-square-kilometre blaze had pushed into the
Nelson city watershed but was still 13 kilometres away from the
West Kootenay town.
Meanwhile, 61 homes in the Grand Forks area remained on
evacuation alert as a 10-square-kilometre fire just across the
Canada-U.S. border moved steadily northward.
Canadian water-bombers were helping fight the lightning-caused
Togo Mountain fire, near Danville, Wash.
The weather forecast for the southern B.C. Interior provided no
respite from hot, dry conditions in the parched region.
More than 850 wildfires were burning in British Columbia on
Monday in what's being called the worst fire season in the province
in half a century.
Premier Gordon Campbell declared a province-wide state of
emergency Aug. 2 and it was extended last Friday for another two
weeks.
It's costing between $2.5 million and $3 million a day to fight
the province's wildfires. The government has already burned through
its $55-million firefighting budget with a month still left in the
normal fire season.
Although no residents or ground firefighters have died this
year, the pilot of a waterbombing helicopter was killed when his
machine crashed Sunday. Last month, two pilots aboard a four-engine
water bomber died when the aircraft ploughed into a mountainside
while attacking a blaze. (Vancouver Sun)


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Forest
fires raised new havoc in the parched mountains of British
Columbia Monday with hundreds of residents forced out of
their homes or on alert for potential evacuation.
The flames also hampered efforts of crews to retrieve the
body of a helicopter pilot who was killed when his aircraft
crashed Sunday while fighting a blaze near Bonaparte Lake,
about 350 kilometers (225 miles) northeast of Vancouver.
Emergency officials estimate between 1,050 to 1,150 people
have been evacuated in recent days because of wildfires near
several communities in south-central British Columbia such as
Chase, Kelowna, Ashcroft and Barriere.
British Columbia has been plagued by fires since mid July.
More than 8,500 people were evacuated at one point in early
August. Most of them had been allowed to return home when the
fire situation worsened again over the weekend.
"It's sort of indicative of the kind of season we're
having. We get a bit of a respite, and then it's off to the
races again," said Steve Bachop, a spokesman for the British
Columbia Forest Service.
More than 800 wildfires were burning in British Columbia
Monday, most of them small. The western Canadian province
is spending at least C$4 million ($2.9 million) a day on fire
fighting, Bachop said.
Premier Gordon Campbell declared a province-wide state of
emergency Aug. 2, which is still in place.
The 1,200 hectare (3,000 acre) fire near Chase was only 2
km from the town of about 2,400 people. Wind appeared to
blowing flames away from the town, but residents were on high
alert in case the flames jumped the Thompson River.
The fire is believed to destroyed several cabins and other
buildings, but officials have been unable to do a complete
damage assessment.
A fire in Okanagan Mountain Park near Kelowna was also
believed to have destroyed several buildings.
No civilian casualties have been reported because of the
British Columbia fires, but Sunday's crash marked the second
fatal accident involving fire-fighting aircraft this summer.
In neighboring southwestern Alberta, the nearly 1,200
people evacuated because of a 221 sq km (88 sq mile) fire near
the Crowsnest Pass have been allowed home but were warned
Monday to remain vigilant in case the fire began to grow
again.
($1-$1.39 Canadian)
REUTERS

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - Gusting winds in southern
British Columbia early Tuesday kicked up mini tornadoes that shot
"fire storms" through containment lines and across highways,
forcing firefighters to retreat.
"The direction of the winds last night was erratic," said
Kevin Matuga, fire information officer for the B.C. Forest Service.
"Fire crews were reporting what we refer to as dust devils or
localized, small tornadoes that were causing the fire to do things
we've never seen before, making it impossible to forecast the fire
and making the situation very difficult."
Firefighters could do nothing but stand back and watch, he said.
As many of the fires grew overnight by hundreds of acres, the
province responded to the escalating risk to communities.
The B.C. government announced Tuesday it had established a
provincial fire department to provide greater flexibility in
deploying resources.
"The situation in our province this summer goes beyond anything
we have experienced in the past," said Solicitor General Rich
Coleman.
The new department, which will be based in Cranbrook and
Kamloops, will allow the Office of the Fire Commissioner to draw on
resources such as crews and equipment from any jurisdiction within
British Columbia.
"We are taking every step possible to protect people and their
homes," Coleman said.
Local fire chiefs will remain in command of their normal
jurisdictions.
For the duration of the state of emergency, if enhanced support
is needed fire departments can request resources from the district
fire chief, who will move the necessary equipment and crews in from
other areas.
Rick Dumala, the B.C. fire commissioner, said that with 847
fires burning in the province and 528 square miles consumed since
April, the situation calls for such an innovative approach.
About 1,500 people remained out of their homes Tuesday under
evacuation orders in areas around Kamloops and Kelowna.
With more gusting wind and temperatures in the mid-80s, fire
crews were focusing on re-establishing containment lines around
fires in the Kamloops area after many flareups overnight.
The Interior Health Authority was working to identify people in
the community who would need help in an evacuation. Names of
seniors with dementia and isolated home-care patients were being
given to the B.C. Ambulance Service.

[NJFFSA16]

NARAMATA, B-C -- It's a scary situation in the southern
B-C
interior where a wildfire in the Okanagan is growing at a
terrifying rate.
In 24 hours, the fire has gone from 20 square kilometres to 110.
Chunks of ash are raining down on the Naramata, where about one
thousand residents are on evacuation alert -- ready to flee in an
hour's notice.
But most of Naramata's three-thousand residents have already
fled with their most cherished possessions.
More than two-thousand homes in neighbouring Kelowna's southern
suburbs are also on on evacuation alert.
Fire information officer Kevin Matuga blames gusting winds and
bone-dry forests for the fire's fury -- which he describes as
"beyond what we've ever seen before."
More people were also forced from their homes near Chase east of
Kamloops last night by the McGillvary Lake blaze, bringing the
total to about 850 evacuees.
The 26-hundred residents of Chase are on evacuation alert.
The McLure-Barriere wildfire, which consumed dozens of homes
earlier this month, went on a run Tuesday night growing to nearly
240 square kilometres.
About a thousand firefighters, with heavy equipment and 12
helicopters are trying to contain that blaze.
The province is now warning people to avoid the backcountry in
the southern half B-C because of fire hazard.
More than 850 fires burning in B-C, which has been under a state
of emergency since August 2nd.
About three-thousand firefighters, including hundreds of
Canadian soldiers, are battling the flames -- which are the worst
B-C has seen in half a century. (CP) ScH (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

[NJFFSA16]

PENTICTON -- About 100 troops have undergone a crash course in
fighting a different sort of enemy -- fire.
The spent Thursday in the classroom in Vernon, B-C -- learning
theory, tactics and safety measures for battling forest fires.
It's so they can join the three-thousand firefighters already
battling wildfires across British Columbia.
The military says the troops will likely be deployed to help
with digging trenches and handling hoses.
The latest batch of soldiers volunteered for the job, joining
about 400 others from across Canada who are already battling blazes
throughout the B-C Interior region.
It's expected a total of about 700 troops will soon be on
firefighting duty.
About 850 fires are currently burning across British Columbia,
about half in the Kamloops area. (BN) PTH (from Broadcast News
Ltd.)

AP-NY-08-21-03 2221EDT

[NJFFSA16]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - An acrid
mixture of smoke and anxiety hung over British Columbia's
southern interior region Thursday as wildfires continued to
burn out of control near several communities.
Nearly 2,000 people have been forced from their homes and
and thousands have been warned to be prepared to flee at only
an hour's notice should the flames draw too close, according to
emergency officials in Canada's westernmost province.
The Okanagan Mountain fire burning south of the city of
Kelowna was estimated Thursday morning at about 13,000
hectares (32,000 acres), nearly six times larger than Tuesday
morning's estimates.
Crews received some help from the weather Thursday,
which produced winds that were lighter than forecast. That
allowed firefighters to make progress in building containment
lines in the rough terrain.
"That's good news in terms of allowing the crews and be a
little more active against the edge of the fire," said Steve
Bachop of the British Columbia Forest Service.
A local news report called the fire a "double-headed
monster," because if winds push the flames north, it could burn
into expensive houses on the outskirts of Kelowna and if it is
pushed south it would hit the village of Naramata.
The Okanagan region east of Vancouver is home to western
Canada's wine industry, and the fire has forced the closure of
at least one winery, although it is believed no structures were
destroyed.
A Reuters photographer in Kelowna said the smoke is "thick
as soup" and fire officials acknowledged it was hampering
efforts to use water-bombing aircraft.
The winds were more troublesome for crews battling the
5,631 hectare McGillivray Fire about 70 km (43 miles) north of
Kelowna. Residents of the community of Pritchard were ordered
out of their homes late Wednesday.
The fire had been listed as 40 percent contained
Wednesday, but that had dropped to 20 percent Thursday.

RESIDENTS TOLD: STAY OUT OF WOODS.
British Columbia is suffering one of its worst forest fire
seasons in decades, with no major rainfall predicted for the
tinder-dry mountains for at least several days.
Residents have been warned to stay out forests and off
wilderness roads in the southern half of the province, which is
Canada's third largest and roughly the size of France and
Germany combined.
"While open flames or cigarettes are obvious risks, people
should be aware that overheated exhaust pipes or metal pipes of
vehicles that strike rocks could start fires," officials said
in statement.
Most of the current large fires are believed to have been
started by lightning, but a nearly 24,000-hectare (60,000-acre)
fire north of Kamloops that has been burning since late July
was sparked by a discarded cigarette butt.
Officials say 3,500 fire fighters, including soldiers, are
battling more than 800 fires in the province, at a cost of at
least C$4 million ($2.8 million) a day.
Although there have been no major fires close to Vancouver,
officials are worried enough about the dry conditions that
popular hiking trails have been closed in the in the mountains
bordering the city.
($1-$1.41 Canadian)
REUTERS

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) - Sirens wailed Thursday night
while emergency officials rushed to move 5,000 people from their
homes in Kelowna suburbs as an aggressive fire moved closer.
"It was fast, it was very fast," said Karen Cairns, a regional
emergency official, describing how quickly officials moved in order
to evacuate residents in southeast Kelowna suburbs, including
Kettle Valley and Uplands.
People living there had been issued an evacuation alert earlier
in the week as the mushrooming Okanagan Mountain Park fire inched
closer, measuring 52 square miles by Thursday.
The fire jumped a fire guard near a residential area, prompting
the evacuation order, said Cairns.
Evacuees were being directed to two emergency reception centers
set up in Kelowna's downtown, where Cairns said officials would
work out their lodgings.
People's homes weren't in immediate danger, but the blaze's
movement across the fire guard forced the evacuation, said Darron
Campbell, a fire information officer.
The fire had already reduced much of Okanagan Mountain Park to
ash by Thursday and huge balls of ash and sparks were seen raining
down on yards in the neighboring community of Naramata, whose 1,000
residents were also on evacuation alert.
Part of the fire's growth was due to a controlled burnoff to try
and deny bone-dry fuel to the fire, said fire officials.
About 110 firefighters and 11 helicopters were working to
control the blaze that has consumed most of the park.
A fleet of 50 bulldozers and other pieces of heavy equipment
were racing to build a fire guard around the blaze.
The Okanagan Mountain park blaze is just one of a half-dozen
major fires threatening southern B.C. communities, where more than
3,000 firefighters, including hundreds of Canadian soldiers, are
battling the flames.
It's been a record year for wildfires, said Kevin Matuga, a fire
information officer for the B.C. Forest Service.
"It is unusual for us to have more than one major interface
fire in a season," he said Thursday, referring to the type of
wildfire that encroaches on communities.
"This year we have had seven major interface fires in the
Kamloops fire center alone.
"We are doing everything we can and we are ensuring to the best
of our ability the safety of the public," Matuga said.
Thousands of residents of southern interior British Columbia
remained out of their homes as hot, dry weather and high winds
fanned the flames of about 850 fires burning across the province.
Almost half the fires were in the Kamloops area.
-Near Kamloops, the 50 percent contained McLure-Barriere fire
was about 100 square miles on Thursday, fought by almost 1,000
firefighters and 12 helicopters;
-East of Kamloops, the McGillvray fire near Chase had grown to
about 28 square miles, and was only 20 percent contained. About 850
people remain out of their homes and another 2,600 on evacuation
alert.
-West of Kamloops, the Venables Valley fire near Ashcroft
remained relatively stable at about 25 square miles.
-In the Kootenay region, the Ingersol fire near Nelson remained
relatively stable at about 6½ square miles.
The fire crisis prompted the B.C. government to declare a state
of emergency Aug. 2 and issue a voluntary travel advisory asking
people to avoid the province's southern backcountry.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, British Columbia (AP) - Cooler temperatures and milder
winds on Sunday helped firefighters contain a blaze that has
destroyed nearly 250 homes and forced thousands to be evacuated in
this western Canadian city.
Emergency officials said they allowed 2,000 evacuees to return
to their homes on Sunday. They said 24,000 people had been
evacuated from the area.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien toured the fire-ravaged Kelowna
area Sunday, viewing the devastation from the air and comforting
evacuees on the ground.
"I wanted to come and offer my support, my moral support and
the support of my government in order to help the citizens of
Kelowna and the Interior of British Columbia," Chretien said.
Some 17,000 others were on evacuation alert, including the
people allowed to return to their homes, Kelowna fire department
spokeswoman Carol Suhan said.
"It was so frightening for two nights when the winds were
coming through and you didn't know where it was going next," said
Marnie Perrier, an evacuee.
Firefighters saved her house by hosing it down, Perrier said.
Temperatures that dropped to 39 overnight and winds that were
down to 9 mph from a high of 45 mph were helping firefighters to
keep the flames from spreading.
Winds were forecast to remain mild until Tuesday, and rain was
expected Sunday night.
Less than one-third of Kelowna's 100,000 residents fled the fire
since Thursday as high winds swept it past orchards and vineyards
and over fireguards built into hillsides.
"There's still a great portion of our city that is at risk and
at the whim of winds," said Ron Mattiussi, director of the Kelowna
emergency operations center. "This is still a very active
dangerous area."
Towering flames leveled 244 houses in the city's south end
Friday and Saturday.
Kevin Matuga, fire information officer with the British Columbia
Forest Service, said there were no major losses Saturday and crews
continued to extinguish hot spots around homes.
"This is far from over. Until we get a significant amount of
rain, the potential for extreme fire behavior still exists,"
Matuga said.
Leo Gebert, the evacuated owner of Kelowna's St. Hubertus Estate
Winery, saw flames creeping between the buildings of his business
and welcomed helicopters dumping retardant on the structures.
"As long as they keep doing that, there's hope," Gebert said.
"We can't do anything about it so we decided to get out."
No deaths have been reported, but some firefighters have
suffered minor injuries, officials said.
Most people had left evacuation centers set up in hockey rinks
to lodge in hotels, move in with friends or relatives or hunker
down in vehicles, Suhan said.
The cost of fighting the almost 900 fires that have plagued
British Columbia this year now tops $106 million, or about $4
million per day.
Cher announced she would donate half the proceeds from her
Saturday concert in Vancouver to the British Columbia Forest Fires
Relief Fund. There was no word on the amount.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

Here are some of the major fires burning in B.C. and resources
being used to fight them:

Okanagan Mountain Provincial Park: Southwest of Kelowna.
Estimated at 196 square kilometres. About 330 firefighters
(includes about 150 soldiers), 140 pieces of heavy equipment, 17
helicopters. Fire had 160 kilometres of fire guards around it
Sunday afternoon. Estimated 244 homes damaged or destroyed on
Sunday morning, at peak 27,000 evacuees.
Vaseux Lake: South of Penticton. Estimated at about 14 square
kilometres. About 140 firefighters, 50 pieces of heavy equipment,
five helicopters. Wind pushing fire to east away from town.
McLure-Barriere: North of Kamloops. Estimated at 260 square
kilometres, 60 per cent contained. About 1,107 personnel, 159
pieces of heavy equipment and 12 helicopters fighting it.
McGillvray-Niskonlith Lake: West of Chase. Estimated at 83
square kilometres, about 40 per cent contained. About 270
firefighters, 83 pieces of heavy equipment, 10 helicopters.
Venables Valley: West of Kamloops. Estimated at 67 square
kilometres, 20 per cent contained. About 217 personnel, 46 pieces
of heavy equipment, four helicopters.
Kuetetl: Northwest of Nelson. Estimated 58 square kilometres.
About 30 firefighters, 12 pieces of heavy equipment, four
helicopters. Some concern about building containment lines since
fire is near Nelson watershed.
Lamb Creek: Southwest of Cranbrook. Estimated 60 square
kilometres. About 12 firefighters, 32 pieces of heavy equipment,
seven helicopters, with more firefighters on the way.
Plumbob Mountain: Southeast of Cranbrook. Estimated 30 square
kilometres, 100 surrounded by guards. About 115 firefighters from
New Brunswick and British Columbia, 26 pieces of heavy equipment,
seven helicopters.
Togo: In Washington State, about 700 metres from the B.C.
border south of Grand Forks. Estimated 21 square kilometres, 50 per
cent contained. About 900 U.S. firefighters, 18 Canadian
firefighters battling it.
Hells Gate: Near Boston Bar in Fraser Canyon. Estimated 134
hectares. About 65 firefighters, seven pieces of heavy equipment,
five helicopters. (CP) (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

[NJFFSA16]

Here are some facts about wildfires
raging across the B.C.
Interior:
--Number of fires: 842; 665 caused by lightning, 177 by people.
--Largest fire: Chilko Lake, 290 square kilometres, 100 per cent
contained.
--Most threatening: Okanagan Mountain Park, 190 square
kilometres, between Kelowna and Naramata; McLure-Barriere fire, 256
square kilometres, north of Kamloops; McGillvray fire, 76 square
kilometres, west of Chase.
--Area burned: More than 1,771 square kilometres since April 1.
--Evacuees: About 26,000 from Kelowna area, with another 15,000
people on evacuation alert.
--Firefighters: About 3,200, including 400 from other provinces
(varying due to reassignments) and 1,150 military personnel.
--Cost of battle: (Canadian) $150 million total to date, about
(Canadian) $6 million a day. --Fires elsewhere in Canada --Alberta
--Current fires: 10, one out of control.
--Largest fire: Lost Creek. Now under control after 31 days, has
burned 211 square kilometres. --Ontario
--Current fires: 51; four out of control. About 126 firefighters
in B.C. fighting fires, 60 more scheduled to arrive on Sunday and
another 60 on Monday. (CP) (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, B-C -- Firefighter John Kelly was back on the job four
hours after losing his home to the ferocious wildfire that has
invaded the southern B-C city of Kelowna.
Kelly says he "had a real hard time" focusing on his work
because of the "utter disbelief and shock."
Kelly first realized his house could be in the fire's path as he
listened to the car radio yesterday while driving back from an
Idaho vacation with his wife and three children.
He heard the wildfire was torching his suburban neighbourhood,
but it wasn't until he arrived in Kelowna that he got the word.
Kelly choked back tears as he said it's important that his
colleagues know he doesn't blame them for failing to save his home.
Not only did Kelly lose his house to the fire -- so did two
other veteran city firefighters.
But the home of another colleague was spared even though he
lives just two doors down from Kelly. (CP) bjk (from Broadcast News
Ltd.)

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - Signs of stress cracked through the city
Monday as doctors reported disturbingly high blood pressure among
firefighters and hundreds who lost homes waited to talk to
exhausted disaster relief workers.
"It's a bit scary," said Kelowna fire chief Gerry Zimmerman of
the readings on his men.
Young firefighters coming off the line, many who have never seen
flames like the ones threatening Kelowna, have blood pressure as
high as 210 over 110, he said.
"We're going to be taking a real hard look today at why that
is. It's definitely a concern," said Zimmerman.
He said the long hours, pressure and lack of sleep were getting
to the men.
With all the trauma in the community, Zimmerman said he was
shocked at how people were able to step out of their own grief and
rally around the force.
Weary firefighters straggled in and out of the city's main
station, pausing to read messages of encouragement tacked up by
residents.
A group of young people from a local subdivision strung up white
cardboard letters reading "Thank You Firefighters" on a large
brick wall outside the hall.
It was a canvas for thousands of wellwishers who covered it in
notes. "We love men in uniform," one read.
"Stay safe!"
"We pray for rain, but thank God for all of you
firefighters."
"Vive la Kelowna."
Firemen were spending quiet moments at the wall taking it all in
said Lieut. Tim Light with Kelowna Fire Department, adding that
everyone at the station had been really moved by the messages.
"We've had a pretty tough four or five days here so the support
is really uplifting for every single guy on the fire department,"
Light said.
With cooler temperatures and almost no wind, crews had a bit of
relief Monday, but it was crucial they act fast to capitalize on
the conditions. Hot temperatures and gusting wind were forecast for
the rest of the week.
Fire information officer Kevin Matuga said 150 kilometres of
control lines had to be re-established after fires blew through
them Friday and raged toward the city, destroying hundreds of homes
and forcing the evacuation of nearly 30,000.
Cooler temperatures allowed the B.C. fire commissioner to
rescind evacuation orders for thousands of evacuees on Saturday and
Sunday night.
On Monday, the toll stood at 248 houses destroyed with 16,000
residents still on evacuation and 25,000 on alert, ready to leave
their homes at a moment's notice.
The Okanagan Mountain Park fire, triggered by an Aug. 16
lightning strike in the mountainous park on the shore of Okanagan
Lake, was estimated to be 196 square kilometres in size.
Ron Mattiussi, director at the emergency operations centre, said
now that the fire isn't directly in the faces of case workers,
staff were trying to meet with people who lost their homes.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who toured the area Sunday,
promised federal aid for victims though he wouldn't say how much
would be made available.
Evacuees were clamouring to be allowed back to their homes with
the fire no longer at their door step, but Mattiussi said utility
companies aren't even being allowed in to the area to re-establish
services.
Zimmerman said emergency workers couldn't be spared to escort
people back yet and that the situation was still dangerous.
The situation was critical for some farmers who own orchards
that are ready for harvest. Agriculture Canada was working with
crews to determine if some could be allowed on their farms to pick
fruit.
In a briefing Monday, Matuga assured people progress was being
made but that crews were still at the mercy of Mother Nature.
"We're getting there. Definitely. We've been making some good
progress on all the fires," Matuga said.
"The deciding factor right now is the wind. Right now
everything hinges on the weather."
Matuga said the Vaseaux Lake fire near Okanagan Falls grew to 23
square kilometres, pushed by gusty wind and steep terrain.
He said crews battling the stubborn, month-old McLure-Barriere
blaze had a good day Sunday, but still stretches a massive 265
square kilometres.
"This fire has been a real fight for us," said Matuga. "In
that particular area there's rough terrain, heavy fuels given the
dry conditions."
There were 1,100 firefighters, 158 pieces of heavy equipment and
12 helicopters fighting the blaze Monday, which was 60 per cent
contained.
Forestry crews hoped to do more back burning on the 67-square
kilometre Venables Valley wildfire burning near Ashcroft, west of
Kamloops.
More than 100 Ashcroft-area residents finally received the news
they were waiting to hear for days - they were allowed to go home
after being evacuated. Emergency Operations Centre spokesman Jim
McBride said 120 people were affected.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

EDMONTON -- Soldiers being deployed to help weary B-C
firefighters say they realize it's dangerous work.
About 50 Edmonton-based soldiers packed up their convoy
yesterday and received a short crash course in firefighting.
Another 60 flew out today to help drag hoses, dig up hot spots
and try and save more homes.
Almost 250 homes were lost to the walls of fire near Kelowna
over the weekend.
Major Todd Strickland says he helped out during the giant ice
storm in Quebec and he's happy to help out this time by battling
forest fires in B-C.
Corporal Kurtis Williams says he realizes the situation could be
dangerous and fires are unpredictable.
Saskatchewan is also sending about 195 firefighters to B-C.
Fire control centre spokesman John Cook says Saskatchewan
currently has 13 fires burning, compared to over 830 in B-C.
He says that's allowing them to send in reinforcements to B-C.
(Global, CJVR) lga (from Broadcast News Ltd.)

AP-NY-08-25-03 1831EDT

[NJFFSA16]

Some facts about wildfires raging across the B.C. Interior as of
Monday:
--Number of fires: 834; 658 caused by lightning, 176 by people.
--Largest fire: Chilko Lake, 290 square kilometres, 100 per cent
contained.
--Most threatening: Okanagan Mountain Park, 196 square
kilometres, between Kelowna and Naramata; McLure-Barriere fire, 265
square kilometres, north of Kamloops; McGillvray fire, 82 square
kilometres, west of Chase.
--Area burned: About 1,780 square kilometres since April 1.
--Evacuees: About 23,000, most from Kelowna area.
--Firefighters: About 3,200, including 400 from other provinces
(varying due to reassignments) and 1,150 military personnel.
--Cost of battle: (Canadian) $169.4 million total to date, about
(Canadian) $6 million a day.
Fires elsewhere in Canada--Alberta--
--Current fires: 13, one out of control, though fire crews
expect to have it under control by Sunday night.
--Largest fire: Lost Creek. Now under control after 31 days, 211
square kilometres. Saskatchewan--
--Current fires: 16, 585 fires so far this year, down
significantly from last year's 864. Manitoba: 76, three out of
control.
--Largest fire: Near Split Lake. Estimated at 450 square
kilometres. Split Lake one-hour evacuation alert lifted Saturday.
Ontario--
--Current fires: 37, three out of control. About 190
firefighters in B.C. fighting fires. Another 77 to arrive on
Monday, 45 more on Tuesday. (CP) -(from Broadcast News Ltd.)

AP-NY-08-26-03 0235EDT

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) - Thousands marched in a victory parade of
sorts Monday to thank those who fought the Okanagan Mountain Park
fire that levelled more than 200 homes in this B.C. interior city
in August.
Firefighters, military personnel, fire relief workers, ambulance
paramedics and a helicopter with a water bucket hovering overhead
could be seen as the parade snaked along a downtown street toward
the city's stadium. Marchers received applause all the way.
"As fierce and as devastating as the fire was, there was
another force that was at work," Rev. Tim Schroeder, who doubled
in August as the fire department chaplain, told more than 6,000
people packed into the city's stadium at a ceremony after the
parade.
"There was a spirit born in this town that made us all proud to
say that we're from Kelowna."
A disastrous wildfire season swept through British Columbia over
the summer, incinerating 334 homes and more than 2,600 square
kilometres of forest.
At the peak of the crisis, more than 50,000 people were
evacuated from their homes, most notably from Kelowna and the
northern B.C. community of Louis Creek, which was burned to the
ground by wildfire.
Kelowna Mayor Walter Gray told the crowd that the power of
Mother Nature was on display in August.
"While tragedy struck and hundreds of our neighbours and
friends lost their homes, we still need to be thankful in so many
ways," he said.
"Most importantly, we did not lose any lives and we must be so
grateful of that one fact alone."
Kelowna fire chief Gerry Zimmermann added that the strength of
the community helped keep firefighters going during the worst of
the blaze.
"Where did we get the strength from? We got it from you. You
gave it to us and never once did your support waver," he said
A plaque was handed out at the ceremony honouring the 160 B.C.
fire departments that helped battle the fire.
Nine other plaques were awarded to other groups involved in the
firefighting and relief efforts.


(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

VANCOUVER (CP) - Wildfires in B.C's Interior have destroyed an
historical ranch and forced about 50 residents to flee.
An evacuation order was issued Monday for roughly 30 homes at
Charlotte Lake, about 90 kilometres east of Bella Coola.
A growing, 3,700-hectare blaze known as the Lonesome Lake/Turner
Lake fire prompted the evacuation.
At Crazy Bear Lake Lodge, seven U.S. tourists and four staff
were picked up by helicopter and float plane and whisked to Anahim
Lake airport.
"Everybody's been evacuated," said lodge booking agent Janice
Mattheis. "If the fire hits there, it's the lifetime dream and
(owner Frank Naumann's) lifetime work wiped out."
The lodge, like much in the remote area, is accessible only by
float plane.
"The fire is moving toward the community," said fire
information officer Nancy Argyle. "It's a very volatile fire and
exhibited some extreme fire behaviour."
Mountainous terrain inaccessible to fire fighters is compounding
the problem. The forest service is attacking with helicopters and
water bombers.
On Sunday, the fire also consumed an old symbol of pioneer days,
the Edwards Homestead.
Ralph Edwards hand-built the barn and lodge on Lonesome Lake in
the 1920s, which was made famous through the 1957 book, Crusoe of
Lonesome Lake, by Leland Stowe.
John Edwards, Ralph's 77-year-old son, stayed to protect the
family home even in the face of the fire, but was evacuated on
Friday.
"We could feel the heat a quarter mile away," he told BCTV
News on Global.
A 23-person Swedish fire fighting team was dropped into the area
to protect the ranch, but was evacuated less than a day later.
Phyllis Irwin, owner of the Dean on Nimpo resort on Nimpo Lake
just east of Charlotte Lake, said she saw large plumes of white
smoke about 50 kilometres away.
"Everyone is just watching and paying attention," she said.
Meanwhile, an evacuation alert remains in effect for the
Klinaklini Valley, 25 kilometres southwest of Clearwater Lake,
after a fire there grew to 2,500 hectares and spread every
direction but west.
It's burning as close as two kilometres from cabins.
There were 372 fires burning in B.C. Monday, compared to 156
last year. About 454 firefighters, 62 helicopters and a fleet of
air tankers are spread throughout B.C. and 62 more firefighters are
expected to arrive soon from Ontario.
B.C. has spent $73.4 million to date to fight fires, compared to
$27 million this time last year.
Environment Canada said there's little chance of rain and
conditions will remain 5 C hotter than normal across the province.
(Vancouver Province)


(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

VANCOUVER (CP) - A sinister cloud from B.C.'s largest wildfire
inked out the sun and sent a mushroom cloud billowing into the air,
forming a hazy blanket over Vancouver and southern parts of the
province Tuesday.
"It's just going crazy. It's mushrooming for miles," said
Anahim Lake resident Wes Hennigar, who planned to run up the road
and photograph the massive smoke plume ballooning south of
Tweedsmuir Park, about 320 kilometre northwest of Vancouver.
And while the so-called Lonesome Lake fire was a sight to
behold, Hennigar admitted it was "worrisome" too.
By Tuesday, the fire had almost tripled in size to over 100
square kilometres and fire officials said it showed no signs of
slowing down.
"What we need is the good Lord to bless us with some rain - and
that's not even in the forecast," said Jack Madsen, a local
resident and owner of the Anahim Lake Resort, about 100 kilometres
from the blaze.
The Lonesome Lake fire also forced about 60 residents from their
homes on Charlotte Lake, about 90 kilometres east of Bella Coola.
The fire had consumed a historical lodge as well.
Fire and emergency officials lauded the community's spirit
Tuesday. Madsen called officials, offering to put up evacuees in
his hotel for "as long as I have room."
Meanwhile, fire crews had a tough fight on their hands.
"This fire has an attitude and we're definitely throwing
everything at it," said fire information officer Nancy Argyle.
Compounding the problem was the extremely hot, dry, weather the
region is experiencing, plus the fact that much of the forest in
the area has been damaged by a pine beetle infestation.
The fire was sparked by lightning a month ago, but forest
services decided to leave it because it wasn't threatening
property.
Madsen said most of the people in the affected region are
outraged that preventative action wasn't taken to douse the fire
earlier.
"Never should've happened," Madsen said. "The whole thing
blew up on them. It's the talk of the town."
John Edwards, 77, was also quoted in the media criticizing the
forest services' decision. The lodge his father hand-built, which
had become a symbol of the pioneer days, was burnt to the ground on
Sunday.
But Argyle said the situation was a matter of bad luck.
"Unfortunately, some severe weather this weekend just caused
this fire to explode and take off," Argyle said.
Forest services were attacking the blaze with helicopters and
water bombers. More crews were being flown in from Ontario on
Tuesday.
"Our airport is loaded with fire fighters and our campsites are
loaded (with them too)," said Hennigar, a 27-year resident of
Anahim Lake.
"We've never had a summer like this."
Hundreds of kilometres away, the skies above the Lower Mainland
and other parts of southern B.C. were experiencing the wildfire's
effects.
Winds blowing southeast from the Lonesome Lake fire were
responsible for the hazy cover, said Chris Doyle, a meteorologist
with Environment Canada.
"It's a milky sort of sky instead of a clear blue one," Doyle
said.
The direction of the air flow is not expected to change until
Thursday, he added, so the smoke can be expected for the next
couple of days.
Meanwhile, an evacuation alert remains in effect for the
Klinaklini Valley, 25 kilometres southwest of Clearwater Lake,
after a fire there grew to 25 square kilometres and spread every
direction but west. Less than a dozen people are affected.
There were 388 wildfires burning in B.C. on Tuesday.


(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

British Columbia seeks help as forest fires rage
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - British
Columbia has called in help from other Canadian provinces and
the United States for a second time this summer in its battle
against raging forest fires, officials said Thursday.
There are 385 fires burning in the province, including the
14,400-hectare (36,000-acre) Lonesome Lake blaze in the Coastal
Mountains east of Bella Coola. That fire was hot enough
Wednesday to create its own local weather system, officials
reported.
"It was very extreme. We had flames 400 feet (120 meters)
in the air and chunks of debris being tossed around like pieces
of paper," said Nancy Argyle, a spokeswoman for the B.C. Forest
Service in Victoria.
More than 100 firefighters are battling the
lightning-sparked blaze with heavy equipment and 11
helicopters, but the rough terrain and heavy smoke have
hampered their efforts.
With continued dry weather in the forecast and a holiday
weekend approaching, additional crews are have been called in
from Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta, Alaska and at least one
other U.S. state.
"It's pretty dry right now, so we want to make sure we have
enough resources on hand," Argyle said.
British Columbia -- which is roughly the size of France and
Germany combined -- has already spent nearly C$80 million ($60
million) fighting fires this summer
The West Coast province produces about half of Canada's
lumber exports to the U.S., but the blazes have had little
impact on the timber industry so far because most of the larger
blazes have occurred in areas that are not subject to logging.
($1-$1.32 Canadian)
REUTERS

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - A charge has been filed
against a man who says he accidentally dropped a cigarette and
started a 2003 wildfire that forced thousands to flee and burned
scores of houses.
Mike Barre was charged with one count of dropping a burning
substance within six-tenths of a mile of a forest, a violation of
British Columbia's Forest Practices Code.
Barre was charged Monday. He was expected to make a court
appearance here Feb. 21.
He's accused of dropping the burning cigarette on his property
near McClure, sparking a 64,000-acre fire in the North Thompson
River valley.
"There were admissions made by Mr. Barre to several different
people and during 911 calls," said Kelly Dahl, a Kamloops
conservation officer.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison
and $1 million (Canadian) in fines, though maximum penalties are
almost never imposed. The law also provides for recovery of costs
associated with fire suppression and forest rehabilitation, though
Barre is unlikely to be held accountable for the full amount.
The fire cost the provincial government about $30 million
(Canadian). The town sawmill, destroyed in the blaze, never
reopened. Some area residents lost jobs, and many lost hteir homes
and possessions.
"I feel terrible, beyond what words can say," Barre said in a
2003 interview. He said he rushed from house to house, trying to
help with the evacuation. About 8,500 people left their homes.
Barre, a former prison guard, was a volunteer with McClure's
fire department.
Kamloops is about 100 miles northeast of Vancouver, British
Columbia, and McClure is about 25 miles northeast of Kamloops.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia (AP) - Nearly two years after his
discarded cigarette ignited a blaze that destroyed 70 homes,
incinerated thousands of acres of forest and razed the area's
primary employer, Mike Barre has the support of the community he
almost wiped off the map.
Barre's attorney, John Hogg, appeared for him Monday in Kamloops
Provincial Court, where the former volunteer fireman is charged
with dropping a burning substance near a forest in violation of the
British Columbia Forest Practices Code.
Barre, 51, was not required to appear in court Monday. The case
was adjourned until March 7, when he is to be arraigned. If found
guilty, he could be fined up to $1 million (US$810,000) and
sentenced to as much as three years in jail.
But neighbors in McLure, population 285, and town officials in
nearby Barriere, population 2,800, say there's been enough
suffering for Barre.
"Pretty much the whole town is behind him," said Barriere Star
Journal editor Jill Hayward. "One second of error has destroyed
his whole life."
Hayward's recent editorial notes: "Whatever the resultant
penalty (or lack of) in this court case, the fact remains that
damage has already been done - to the community, the valley and to
Barre."
The damage from the fire that started its tear through the
forest on July 30, 2003, was extraordinary.
The town of Louis Creek was essentially destroyed when flames
consumed about 70 homes and the Tolko mill that employed nearly 200
people. Hundreds of vehicles were reduced to ashes, along with 100
outbuildings.
About 8,500 people were forced to flee their homes as the fire
grew to cover approximately 77 square miles. More than 1,000
firefighters were needed on the front lines, where they battled the
flames with heavy equipment, planes and helicopters in an effort
that cost more than $30 million.
The fire caused at least $8.2 million (US$6.6 million) in
property damage.
Barre, a former volunteer firefighter and prison guard, is a
stay-at-home dad who works an occasional construction job. He's
learning how to build Web sites so he can set up an online
Bible-sales business.
He declined the Vancouver Province newspaper's request for an
interview about the unexpected surge of support.
In previous interviews, Barre has admitted it was his cigarette
butt that sparked the fire and that he confessed to a provincial
Ministry of Forests inspector on the first night. Since then, town
members have openly worried about whether he would commit suicide
out of guilt.
Barriere's top cop, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Bernie
Parent, said he hasn't heard of anyone trying to exact revenge on
Barre.
"At first, sure, I thought, `Jeez, what a jerk,' but you start
to think about it. It's an accident. What are you going to do? He's
not a bad guy," said Cheryl Land, Barre's neighbor and an employee
of the local liquor store. "Nobody was killed. It was possessions
that were lost. He made a mistake."
Barre's lawyer said his client intends to plead not guilty.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[NJFFSA16]

:Erratic winds could making tackling Merritt blaze tougher, fire
official says
MERRITT, B.C. (CP) - Firefighters tackling a blaze near Merritt
are preparing for erratic winds that could fan the flames and make
the job of protecting homes even tougher.
The Winnie Flats fire was sparked on Saturday when a car crashed
into a ditch and ignited on the Coquihalla Highway just north of
the city.
The 58-year-old driver escaped the flames but suffered serious
injuries. The fire quickly spread.
Provincial fire information officer Rhada Fisher says the blaze
is about two kilometres from the town and close to residences.
By Monday afternoon, the blaze covered 150 hectares and was
considered 70 per cent contained.
Fisher says three water trucks, 75 firefighters and six
helicopters were fighting the fire.
Despite the containment level, the proximity of the fire to
homes makes it a priority for crews, Fisher says. A weather front
due to settle on the area early today may complicate their
efforts.
The front was expected to bring with it high and unpredictable
winds.
High winds means rapidly shifting flames and fire conditions
that can be dangerous for crews, Fisher says.
B.C.'s other large blaze of the season continued to tear through
remote rugged terrain near Spences Bridge on Monday. The Sleetsis
Creek fire was mapped at 2,214 hectares on Monday, meaning it
doubled in size since it was discovered on Friday.
Steep terrain meant ground crews could not reach the fire by
hiking or driving in, Fisher says. Firefighters instead rappelled
from helicopters and worked throughout the day at creating safe
access for ground units.
Despite a high forest fire danger rating, the coastal region has
enjoyed a relatively calm season in 2005.
Coastal fire information officer Sue Handel says weather
patterns, especially the relative lack of lightning, have helped
keep the number of forest fires in the region to just 74. However,
the coastal region fire season typically begins and ends much later
than elsewhere in B.C.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Handel says.
Open burning bans are in place in the coastal fire region,
Kamloops and south-east fire centres. Campfires are permitted
across B.C.
A total of 621 fires have burned in B.C. this year to date,
consuming 27,149 hectares of forest, at a firefighting cost of
$24.7 million.
On July 31, 2003, the year Kelowna and Barriere lost hundreds of
homes to two monster fires, firefighters had already seen 1,059
fires and spent $41.2 million.
(Vancouver Province)

[budthespud]

Forest fire puts B.C. homeowners on alert

CTV.ca News Staff

About 54 homes near a community in B.C.'s Okanagan region are under an evacuation alert as strong winds drive a forest fire there.

The alert covers 41 homes in a residential subdivision of Oliver, B.C. and and 13 homes on the Osoyoos Indian Band reserve.

Some residents have voluntarily left already.

No homes within Oliver, which bills itself as "the wine capital of Canada", are affected. A town of 2,500, Oliver is located 25 kilometres north of the U.S. border. The fire is located about five km east of the town's municipal boundaries.

"This fire ... was supposed to be something of a slam dunk for the B.C. Forest Service," said CTV News' David Kincaid from Oliver.

"They hit it hard and they hit it fast in an attempt to get it under control quickly. However, things didn't work out quite as planned."

Aerial bombers dropping fire retardant, helicopters and firefighters couldn't keep the blaze from spreading to 400 hectares, or 1,000 acres.

"It's definitely a fire that's here to stay for a while," said Dale Bojhara, a fire information officer with the B.C. Forest Service.

He blamed stronger winds for an inability to control the blaze.

"You have to understand that some of these areas, it's just a handline that has to stop this fire," Bojhara said, his hair tossed around by the wind.

A handline is generally the width of a shovel blade.

"With winds like this, it can easily carry over these types of areas. That's why we have the air tankers in there to support. But it's going to be very difficult today to make progress in certain areas of this fire with winds like these."

So far, no homes have been lost.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's David Kincaid

[budthespud]

Historical: the development of the Martin Mars firefighting aircraft:
http://www.vectorsite.net/avmars.html#m7

6,600 US gallons.

[NJFFSA16]

KAMLOOPS, B.C. (CP) - The man accused of starting a huge forest
fire that destroyed houses and a sawmill described the aftermath of
the blaze Thursday as a devastating time in his life.
Mike Barre was testifying in his own defence.
He has pleaded not guilty to dropping a burning substance within
one kilometre of a forest on July 30, 2003, a contravention of
B.C.'s Forest Practices Code.
Barre, 52, said he makes it a habit to look at his cigarettes on
the ground to make sure they are out.
However, Crown prosecutor Jonathan Oliphant suggested while it
may be a habit Barre can't be sure this time.
Barre said: "I guess so."
He said he was forthright, co-operative and honest with forestry
officials right from the beginning
Barre said during the investigation he couldn't say for sure
where the fire broke out, only where he dropped his cigarette.
The McLure fire forced thousands of people from their homes and
destroyed 75 houses and buildings along with 26,000 hectares of
forest.
The area's main employer, the Tolko sawmill, burned to the
ground and was not rebuilt.
Barre testified he saw smoke near his Interior B.C. property
moments after he stomped out a cigarette.
While he was walking up a hill behind his home he stopped
halfway to butt out a cigarette, he said.
His initial thought was to discard the filter in a pit just off
the heavily sanded trail behind his house.
But feeling there was simply too much garbage and combustibles
inside the pit he opted to drop the cigarette on the trail,
stomping on it then twisting it into the ground with his foot.
Not long after that, Barre said, he noticed smoke coming from
the same general area.
Barre said he called 911 from a neighbour's house and then ran
to a nearby restaurant for help.
He and others went back up the hill with shovels and water but
by the time they got there it was too late, Barre said.
If convicted, Barre could face a maximum penalty of $1 million
and three years in prison. The code doesn't specify a minimum.
Defence lawyer John Hogg said he will ask Judge William Sundhu
to visit McLure during the trial to see the hillside, trail and
soil behind Barre's house.


(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

[RspctFrmCalgary]

B.C. man convicted of starting wildfire
Last Updated Mon, 07 Nov 2005 18:14:11 EST
CBC News
A former firefighter in British Columbia has been found guilty of starting a wildfire that destroyed dozens of houses and tens of thousands of hectares of forest in 2003.



Provincial court Judge William Sundhu, who handed down his verdict in Kamloops on Monday, said Mike Barre "was not paying attention" when he discarded a cigarette near his house north of Kamloops.

Barre, 52, who told the court that grass and brush ignited minutes after he dropped the cigarette, was convicted of dropping a burning substance within a kilometre of a forest.

The fire destroyed 73 houses and forced 8,500 people to flee from McLure, Barriere and other communities north of Kamloops.

The McLure-Barriere fire also flattened a sawmill in Louis Creek, which provided jobs for more than 200 people.

It eventually swelled to more than 260 square kilometres in size and cost the province more than $31 million to quell.

Yet, despite the damage, many people from the area came to the courthouse to show their support for Barre on Monday.

About 1,400 people had signed a petition urging the Crown to stay the charge, saying he did everything he could to try to stop the fire.

Barre could be fined up to $1 million and face jail time.

I also heard on the radio that it was possible Barre would just get fined a few thousand dollars, and no jail time (out of a possible 3 years max) because the main goal was to bring public attention to the careless disposal of cigarettes and basically to make an example of him.

[NJFFSA16]

KELOWNA, B.C. (CP) -As Kelowna residents mark the third
anniversary of one of British Columbia's worst wildfires, the city
continues to fight for compensation for the effects of the massive
blaze.
City manager Ron Mattuissi says there was more than (Canadian)
$2 million in road and drainage work that had to be done to prevent
slides and further erosion in some neighbourhoods.
He says the city has already spent the money to do that work.
Requests for compensation from the previous federal Liberal
government were unsuccessful and now the city is working on the
Conservative government.
The Okanagan Mountain Park fire destroyed 244 homes and forced
more than 30,000 residents from their homes.
The massive blaze was started by a lightning strike on Aug. 16,
2003, near Rattlesnake Island and grew into a firestorm within a
few days. (from Broadcast News Ltd.)