From the Fire Line
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2005
by Ed Brouwer
Canwest Fire Services
From The Fire Line:
The year British Columbia burned is how 2003 will be remembered by most of us living in the west. Our hotshot crews “Sons of Thunder" and “Dragon Slayers" having just returned from the wildfire crisis in Osoyoos were in the third day of our stand-by rotation when the call came. On August 16th at 11:00 in the morning Ministry of Forests (MOF) dispatched us to a lightning strike across from Antler Beach. Although an MOF Initial Attack crew, two helicopters and three CL 415 air tankers had been actioning the fire since early morning the fire seemed to be gaining momentum. In addition a second fire broke out near Chute Lake and new flare ups North of Kamloops, forced authorities to divert air support before noon.
Manipulating our Brush Trucks through the summer traffic we looked anxiously across Okanagan Lake toward the area known as Squally Point. In a typical fire season a lightning strike is not a “big" deal, however there was nothing typical about this fire season. After three years of unusually dry weather the Okanagan was ready to explode.
There are three key factors that influence fire behavior Weather, Fuel, and Topography. Any one of these factors at their extreme can cause erratic fire behavior. In our case all three were at their extreme producing erratic, unpredictable conflagrations and unforgettable fire behavior.
Strike One: The Weather. There had not been any significant rainfall for several months, the winds were in excess of 60 kilometers per hour, the temperature was over 30o C and the Relative Humidity below 30%. The latter is referred to as the 30/30 cross. This describes the conditions where the RH drops below 30% and temperature rises above 30o C. If this occurs on the fire-line you can expect extreme fire behavior. The initial fire spread is influenced by wind speed and wind direction. Rate of spread was in excess of 50 m per minute. The wind picked up at 12:30 driving spot fires ahead of the main fire. This fire would grow to over 1000 hectares by the next day.
Strike Two: The Fuel The fuel moisture content in all three classes or layers of forest fuel, (fine fuel [surface], Duff [5-10 cm deep] and Deep Duff [10-20 cm deep]) were at the absolute extremes. All indicators pointed to rapid spread rates, intense fires, and extensive involvement of the fuel layer.
This fire was intense and would prove difficult to mop up due to the depth of the fire. Other factors under this heading are type (size) of fuel and closeness (continuity). Both these factors led to rapid spread and intense fire. The past fifty years saw little if any clean up in the understory or on the forest floor of the park. The fact that the duff was 2-3 feet deep in places was a major contributor to fire spread. The fire simply burned under the retardant.
Strike Three: The Topography Factor. For every 250 increase of slope the rate of spread doubles. Due to convection, flame proximity and daily upslope winds, the fuel is preheated and ignites more rapidly. In some areas we had 750 slopes. The direction a slope faces (Aspect) is a major factor in solar heating and evaporation. South Aspect slopes such as in the park produce low fuel moisture contents, finer fuels and a have greater rate of spread and/or ignition. The last point under this heading is terrain. We dealt with miles of canyons, valleys and rock bluffs. Not only is it difficult to maneuver within these areas, they have a direct influence on any wind flows in the area. In most cases when wind is impeded and deflected by a mountain barrier it causes it to flow parallel to the range (Barrier Effect). Squally Point has the unique distinction of being the place where winds split. A portion flows along the lake toward the city of Kelowna, the other portion flows along the lake towards the town of Naramata. This factor would often drive the fire in two directions at the same time. If that wasn’t bad enough Wild Horse Canyon which cuts across Okanagan Mountain Park has openings on both sides of Squally Point. This factor influenced winds flowing in both the Kelowna and Naramata directions forcing them into the canyon openings. This constriction caused the winds to gain speed and pressure (Funnel Effect). Once in the canyon the weak surface winds tend to flow along the direction of a valley rather than along the orientation of the isobars (Valley Effect). In short we faced erratic gusting winds, changing direction and force. Circular winds caused dust devils at times 100 meters in the air. Fires in drainages or chutes may spread at an alarming rate, so these formations are always very dangerous locations during wildland fires. Wind driven fires sweeping through these terrain features have been associated with many firefighter injuries and fatalities. We would discover later that the high winds would cause spotting up to 2.3 kilometers ahead of the fire.
This was a long introduction but it is important for “arm chair" quarterbacks to understand the extreme conditions of fire K5-628 when judging the actions taken to fight this fire. This fire will no doubt be a fire behavior study for many years.
Little did we realize as we stood on Antler Beach waiting to be ferried across to Squally Point that this was going to be the first of many long and frustrating days. Since the strike some 10 hours earlier the fire had grown to 15 hectares (38 acres).
By the following day this number would be increased to 1000 hectares.
After landing on the beach we climbed up the steep mountain side and hooked up with the Initial Attack crew. For several hours we dug hand guards and patrolled the fire perimeter. Retardant drops were being made to the North of us and water drops were being made on the flanks. However, the drops were not as effective as we had hoped due to the depth of the duff. Because the duff layer was so dry and deep the fire would burn right under the retardant and escape. Turbulent winds lifting burning embers setting them down across the guards. Each day at 16:00 hours the winds would increase sometimes up to 50 kmph.
The second day following the fire’s edge we climbed to the 1000 m level and working with the Initial Attack crew put in over 3 kilometers of hand guard. With support from air tankers we dealt with several escapes near Wild Horse Canyon and helipad 7. Other hot shot crews set up bladders and ran hose lines. The third day found us at even higher altitudes and in rougher terrain. The smoke column hung ominously above us. The winds were changing direction causing fire whirls and blow ups. All three days had brought unstable air masses and erratic fire behavior, but today was different. You just get that feeling. Sure enough, by 16:00 we were informed that 70 kmph winds were predicted to push the fire back on top of us. We were to prepare for immediate helicopter evacuation. The 30 of us were flown to a staging area in Peachland where we awaited further orders.
The smoke column over the fire was now a huge mushrooming mass.
The color of the smoke indicated a very intense hot fire. We never did go back to Squally point. The high winds drove the fire over the guards with such intensity that it devoured our bladders, hose lines and medivac kits. Over the next few days we would find out exactly just how vicious this fire dragon was going to be. In one day it grew from 2,000 hectares to more than 11,000. Firefighting conditions were the worst fire officials had ever seen. The Okanagan Mountain Park Fire became a wind driven, terrain agitated fire that would in the end attack Kelowna in the North and
Naramata in the South. Our crews were moved to the Naramata side.
Fire crews worked tirelessly as the weekend approached. Thanks to the quick and decisive work of the South Division firefighters the town of Naramata was spared. Fortunately all things worked in our favor when we did the back fire on the South side. Firefighters, skidders and operators lined the guards put in by the D8-Cats. The signal was given and the chopper carrying the heli-torch made several passes dropping burning liquid fuel. The tinder dry forests between the guard and the fire ignited with an alarming rate. We had Rank 5 (6 is the highest) within minutes after ignition. There were several escapes, but by 1:00 a.m. we were able to contain them. Exhausted beyond description we headed out to get a few hours sleep. In far too short of a time we were back at it. But the threat to Naramata had been stayed.
For the next two weeks we worked our way North, up Chute Lake Road, past the lodge and along the 11 kilometers of the KVR to the canyons above Kelowna. August 21st the fire made a run towards Kelowna. Fire apparatus from all over British Columbia and Alberta converged on Kelowna in an attempt to stop this dragon. In spite of the unprecedented and valiant efforts of those on the fire ground over 250 homes were destroyed.
There were certainly some anxious moments during the battle. More than once we were forced to use our escape routes running for safety. On one occasion we went back through the flames and smoke to get a couple of equipment operators out. We were cooled down by the “Ducks" and Tankers as we ran for safety. Operators had to leave their heavy equipment to burn as they ran for their lives two groups of structural firefighters were trapped for a while as the fire ripped through Kelowna subdivisions Several firefighters were hospitalized after their $250,000.00 fire engine rolled down an embankment when the bank of the road gave way in Naramata.
Twice during the height of the crisis, our crew’s families were evacuated from their homes as the fire threatened the eastern outskirts of Kelowna. Other hot shot crews offered to help defend our homes and pilots offered to assist. However we all knew we had a job to do that was so much bigger than our personal places. No one I met on the fire line ever thought themselves worthy of the “hero" title. We were simply answering the call.
The public expressions of gratitude were overwhelming. The following two accounts stand out for our crew. We had just put in a 14 hour day on the Naramata side and we stopped for gas in Summerland. A young man sitting in a beat up old pick-up truck stared at the six of us dressed in our “reds" covered in black ash and a bone tired weariness. I saw him look at his two young children on the seat next to him and as though given the go ahead from them, he opened his door and approached us. As he came near he stretched out his hands and quietly said, “I wish I could do more, thank you so much." In his hands he held two peaches, two of the most beautiful peaches this world has ever seen. I looked past the young man and saw his two children quietly sitting awaiting their father’s return. A freak wind must of come up because a number of us got something in our eyes at the same time. We spoke often of that simple, yet great act of appreciation.
Then there was the grey haired old man we passed every morning on the way to Staging. The first day we saw him he was walking along the road to Naramata collecting bottles. He looked up when he heard us coming, and when he saw that we were firefighters he straighten up and stood at full attention, saluting us as we drove past. You sir, whoever you are, boosted our morale every day that week. Thank you so much.
As the fire threatened to run East towards Big White and Idabel Lake resort areas a “miracle rain" came at the midnight hour and forced the fire to burn back on itself. That was the turning point. From then on it was only a matter of time. Normally once the fire was contained we would mop up several hundred feet into the black and allow it to burn itself out. However, due to the many “panic" reports of smoke sightings from Kelowna residents we were instructed to bring about 100% extinguishment. With the help of Army and Navy personnel we sought out as many hot spots as possible. Much of the manpower and equipment was released around the 20th of September. During our last week on the fire we flew along the fire’s
perimeter scanning for hotspots. Each time we found one it was marked into the GPS. Then a long spike tied with a length of flagging tape was dropped from the chopper to further aid in locating the spot. On our last flight we found only 10 spots and over the following two days the 20 or so remaining firefighters tracked down all ten spots and extinguished them accordingly. The fire at that time covered more than 170 square kilometers.
More than 30 days had past since we were dispatched to that single tree lightning strike, now 25,600 hectares were burned, 238 homes were lost or destroyed, 12 wooden trestles in Myra Canyon were vaporized and decks on two steel trestles burned. 27,050 people evacuated plus 4,050 re-evacuated. The maximum resources used at one point were 700 personnel, 250 pieces of heavy equipment, and 20 helicopters.
As our crew drove into Kelowna on our last day the bone tired weariness that had haunted us for days was lifted by a renewed determination to actively pursue a provincial interface fire service. Canwest Fire was birthed on the fire ground of K5-628, perhaps one of the most destructive fires in Canadian history. Most of our members successfully completed the NFPA 1001 and S-100 certification as well as the First Responder III certifications. Our mission is to contribute to the development of a Province wide “Interface Fire Department" dedicated to protecting homes in the interface. This year’s reign of fire has proven the need for more cross training between Wildland and Structural firefighters and a greater understanding of what a “defensible space" is for those living in the interface. Canwest Fire is attempting to answer that call.
Ed Brouwer, Fire Chief Canwest Fire Services, “First ones in, last ones out!"
Fantastic article! Learned more about the fire from this one article than from anything else I've read. I always believed, as many do, that the fire was intentionally left to burn to clean up Okanagan Mountain park, but now I understand much better.
Dear Concerned Observer (Ed),
Thank you for your concern and your letter. I assure you that I know exactly what is what and who is who and I have 2 lovely stepdaughters that adore their Father. The next time you want to threaten a loving family, perhaps you should remember that this is the digital age and that everything can be traced, calls and letters. I just needed to pick up the phone to get your fingerprints.
I should also thank you for calling the Ministry; you actually did us a favor and inadvertently helped us out (quite a bit). I know that you are trying to help your good friends K and M, but I wonder if they would approve after knowing that you are doing such a @#$@#&* poor job of remaining anonymous.
Perhaps you should stay out of people’s affairs, stop presuming to know that which you don’t understand and reflect before calling the kettle black since you obviously lost the right to be a Pastor because you were conning your congregation.
"Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone"
You Sir are the epitome of evil.
Sincerely,
An Extremely Unconcerned Wife