BCWS incident commander Mark Healey, deputy minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development Rick Manwaring, and Jamie Jeffreys, BCWS director of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships discuss the White Rock Lake wildfire during a press conference in Vernon on Thursday. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters Staff)

By Liam Verster

Vernon news conference

B.C. Wildfire Service addresses recent criticisms about operations

Aug 12, 2021 | 2:32 PM

The B.C. Wildfire Service (BCWS) is firing back against recent claims from the public that operations aren’t up to par.

BCWS incident commander Mark Healey, BCWS director of Strategic Engagement and Partnerships, Jamie Jeffreys, and Rick Manwaring, deputy minister of Forest Lands, Natural Resources Operations and Rural Development met members of the media Thursday in Vernon to dispell recent rumors and criticisms of the wildfire response this summer.

Jeffreys, Manwaring and Healey all took a moment to speak about recent stories and rumors being circulated that suggest the firefighters haven’t been doing enough with the White Rock Lake wildfire, and that operations aren’t adequate.

Healey and Manwaring said while it would be beneficial to have more support, resources are stretched thin because there are so many fires burning throughout the province, North America, and elsewhere in the world.

Jeffreys added work is always being done to bring in more support, some of which will be arriving this week.

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“[We] do work with our national partners to get resources from other provinces and countries, and actually today, I believe we have just shy of 40 people coming from Alberta, and on Sunday there’s 151 additional firefighters coming from Quebec,” said Jeffreys, though she did not specify where those additional firefighters will be deployed.

“So we are working with them actively on resource requests, but as Mark kind of alluded to, and Rick did as well, is B.C. isn’t the only place dealing with high fire activity right now. All provinces, or a lot of the provinces across the country, as well as the Pacific North West of the United States, are experiencing high fire activity, so it has made it challenging to share resources as much and as freely as we usually do. But we are continuing to work with our partners and we are getting additional resources on a regular basis to help,” said Jeffreys.

Healey added the nearly 200 firefighting personnel actively fighting the White Rock Lake fire are deployed all around the blaze in order to deal with the hot spots that pose the biggest risk for increased spread, which is a reason why the public may not see many firefighters in any one area.

“We constantly move resources around to the priority areas, and once they establish control lines we reallocate those resources throughout the fire,” said Healey. “So they’re constantly moving in all different divisions of this fire.”

Mark Healey points out that resources need to be deployed to priority areas as needed. (Liam Verster/Vernon Matters Staff)

Along with the claims that the fire crews do not have suitable resources to fight the fires, Healey said there have been increasing social media posts claiming the firefighters aren’t working hard or doing their job well enough.

“When I hear that not enough is being done, that really hits me in the heart,” said Healey.

“It not only hits me, it hits every firefighter on the ground. That’s the hardest thing to hear when you work extremely long hours over an extremely long summer. And the crews on the ground, they’re young millennials who live on social media, they are not taking this well when this message gets out there, and I worry about them for that reason.”

He adds the typical hours for a wildfire firefighter is 14 days on, two days off then to office days, working shifts that last between 14 and 16 hours.

The wildfire representatives also took the opportunity to remind people to leave as soon as an evacuation order has been issued.

Healey said that hoses used for structural protection have a large diameter and are very pressurized, meaning it’s not safe to drive over once deployed, and that they can’t be deployed if it will block the escape route of a citizen who has stayed behind. He adds it’s also important for people to get out while they can in case the fire causes the road or other escape routes to be blocked.

Jeffreys added they want to make sure the area is clear before certain operations, such as dropping retardant or water, can be done safely.

Healy noted that in his 28 years, BCWS he has never seen such a dry, hot summer with a lot of fuels in the forests which has led to what he calls a ‘catastrophic event.’

“This isn’t just a wildfire. This, I think, is something new for everybody, and I think it poses a great challenge”

The fire is expected to grow with the upcoming heat wave and windy conditions, he said, but crews are working hard to plan ahead and get control lines in place to minimize the spread.