2009 Fire Season in the TNRD

2009 Fire Season in the
TNRD
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Round One
May 2nd – 8th
May 2 – 70 Mile House
• 1000 ha fire destroyed 5 homes and 1
business. Three of the homes were
unoccupied.
• Local State of Emergency declared for EA
“E”, 125 people evacuated for 2 days.
• 200 ha fire burning near Kelly Lake at the
same time
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House and adjoining auto body shop destroyed
Round Two
July 27th – Aug 10th
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Back Valley Road
• Lightning caused fire 8 km east of Cache
Creek on Monday, July 27th
• State of Local Emergency declared for EA
“I”
• Two homes ordered evacuated for 6 days.
• Fire burned to within 100 m of one house
which was saved by an air tanker
retardant drop.
Brookmere Fire
• 3024 ha fire 5 km south of Brookmere
• Fire started Saturday, August 1st, cause
under investigation
• State of Local Emergency declared for EA
“N”, 50 people ordered evacuated for 3
days
• No structure losses
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Intlpam Fire
• 1270 ha lightning caused fire located 22 km
south of Lillooet on the west side of the Fraser
River in EA “I”.
• Fire started July 25th
• Declaration previously issued for the Back Valley
fire extended in order to evacuate 2 properties in
the area on August 7th
• Lytton First Nation also evacuated 18 people on
August 7, with ESS services provided by Lytton
ESS. These families were not allowed to return
home until August 25th
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Lillooet Area Fires
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Mount McLean, July 22 – 3696 ha
Hell Creek, July 31 – 1966 ha
Big Dog Mountain, July 31 – 2500 ha
Seton Portage, August 2 – 1790 ha
These fires caused the evacuation of 2500
people from Lillooet, Seton Portage, Shalath and
the Yalakom Valley.
• About 2000 evacuees registered with ESS in
Kamloops and were provided hotel
accommodation or group lodging
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Mac Island Ice Rink
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Thompson Rivers University
About 60 ESS volunteers assisted the evacuees
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Round Three
Aug 20th – Sept 4th
Kelly Creek Fire
• Fire located in Edge Hills Provincial Park.
• Started on August 1st, cause under
investigation
• Modified response to this fire due to it’s
location being in a provincial park.
• Weather conditions caused this fire to
increase in size from 1300 ha to 10,000 ha
on August 20th and 18,000 ha by Aug 31
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Kelly Creek Fire
• State of Local Emergency declared for EA “E” on August
20th and approx. 50 homes ordered evacuated in the
Kelly Lake/Jesmond Road area
• Evacuation alert issued on August 21st for a large area
east and north of the fire
• ESS services provided in Clinton
• Livestock evacuation was an issue in this area.
• Village of Clinton issued an Evacuation Alert on August
25th, TNRD alert also modified to bring in additional
properties.
• Additional properties in Big Bar Rd. area ordered
evacuated on August 27th
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Martin Mountain Fire (Pritchard)
• Fire started on August 22nd, cause under
investigation
• Fire was being actioned when strong south
winds caused it to jump the guard and go Rank
6 on August 27th Increased in size from 60 ha to
400 ha overnight.
• State of Local Emergency declared in EA “L”
and 30 homes ordered evacuated at 0430 hrs on
August 28th.
• Kamloops ESS once again stepped up to the
plate to assist the evacuees
Martin Mountain Fire (Pritchard)
• Evacuation area expanded on the evening
of August 28th to take in an additional 20
homes and again on Sept 1st for 50 more
homes in the Paxton Valley area.
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Other Fires
• Aug 21 Fadear Creek, Area “O” –
– 100 ha, lightning start
– 2 homes evacuated for 5 days, 44 on evac. alert for 5
days
• Aug 21, Lions Head, Area “P” –
– 25 ha, lightning start
– 45 to 50 homes on evac. alert for 5 days
• Aug 21, Mara Mountain, Area ‘J”
– 4 ha, lightning start
– one home on evac. alert for 5 days
Other Fires (Cont’d.)
• Aug 21, Notch Hill, Area “L” (and in CSRD)
– 2000 ha, lightning start
– CSRD issued an evac. order for about 120 homes on
their side of the fire on Aug 24
– TNRD issued an evac. alert for about 50 homes on
Aug 27
• Aug 28, Community Lakes Plateau (Area “P”)
– 45 homes Whitecroft/Heffley area placed on
evacuation alert on August 28th due to the 200 ha
fire.
– additional homes in the Sullivan, Knouff and Badger
Lakes areas ordered evacuated later on August 28th
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TNRD EOC
• The EOC was set up in the Board Room and
operated at varying levels of response
depending on fire activity.
• Duties consisted of facilitating evacuations,
logistical support of ESS volunteers, mapping,
information and media relations
• The EOC was staffed by TNRD with support
from City of Kamloops staff as well as agency
representatives
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Keeping People Informed
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Thanks To All Of The Agencies Involved
• Emergency Social Services (Kamloops, Merritt, Cache
Creek, Clinton, Ashcroft, Little Fort, Barriere, Lytton,
SLRD & Lillooet)
• Salvation Army & Canadian Red Cross
• SPCA and Noah’s Wish
• Kamloops Regional Correction Centre
• BC Housing
• Food & water suppliers, hotels & motels, security, TRU,
SD’s 73 & 74 (buses), RCMP, numerous structural FD’s,
the Provincial Emergency Program, the BC Wildfire
Protection Branch and the Ministry of Agriculture and
Lands
• Indian & Northern Affairs Canada and numerous Indian
Bands
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And to the Firefighters
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A Summer to Remember
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6 wks EOC Activation
7 Emergency Declarations (10 Extensions)
11 Evacuation Orders
16 Evacuation Alerts
500 people evacuated
2000 people on alert
Host for 2000 evacuees
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So What did we Learn?
• Cherish your volunteers
• Communicate, communicate,
communicate
• Know your role
• Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle
• Be prepared
And Still Counting –
Round 4 (Hihium Lk)
Sept 23…
Questions
?
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