“Ya, it’s hot out there,” said West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund at the July 26 council meeting.
Those words came with good cause – West Kelowna, like much of Interior BC, is under a heat warning from Environment Canada, with temperatures right through to Sunday expected to reach the high 30s.
These high temperatures, combined with low humidity, has both the fire department and residents on the lookout for smoke or flame at any moment.
Brolund compared where West Kelowna is at in the wildfire season this year to the exact same time last year when he came before council. In his 2021 notes, he had written that the city was in a “dire situation”, the fire danger was extreme, and there was a grave concern about the number of available helicopters, given the historic number of wildfires across the province.
One note stood out in particular, that Brolund read to council in July 2021 – that there was a concern that there might be a fire that they could not catch.
“I contrast that with where we are this year. And that is that there is only one major wildfire burning in the province today, and it is being managed by the provincial government, there are no structural fire departments deployed anywhere in the province, we’re all at home ready to go.
“Our situation is behind where we were at last year.”
Brolund added, however, that does not mean that there is a reason to stand down. There is always the danger of the fire level increasing, especially with the current intense heat.
“We could be on the same path.”
The current fire danger rating in the area is set to four, or ‘high’. New fires may stay easily, and spread quickly, said Brolund.
Speaking on if and when a campfire ban could be announced in West Kelowna, Brolund said that they look for three straight days of level five danger before making that call.
“We haven’t hit that yet, but we will, and the campfire ban most likely will come if this weather continues.”
There has been one fire in the area so far this season that has reached the BC Wildfire dashboard, which was fuel-based on July 19 and under control on the same day.
READ MORE: Second wildfire starts near Kaleden
READ MORE: Beat the heat with cooling stations around Kelowna
@JakeC_16
Jake.courtepatte@kelownacapnews.com
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