What’s the Issue
March 15 marks the beginning of Nova Scotia’s burn restrictions, and the start of wildfire season. Let’s face it, last year was rough for many and brutal for some. While we still have families rebuilding from the last season, there are some things we can do differently.
Community Mitigation
Mitigation operates at the community and individual homestead levels. Both have things to do here.For communities, two major lessons need (and there are probably more) to be learned from last year. First, multiple routes into and out of areas affected by wildfires. Communities trapped on a single route in or out isn’t going to be good enough. Those responsible for the road infrastructure need to take two clear steps. Fix the existing issues by establishing multiple routes into and out of communities. Second, putting in place rules where developers need to be planning their developments with this in mind.
Also for communities is a greater need to ensure that communities are built safely. This challenge has already been identified and communicated publicly. This involves ensuring at least the following:
- Planning and development projects are properly assessed with respect to fire-related issues by competent professionals. This should include having the ability to require changes to plans to bring them in line with appropriate fire-safety practices.
- Infrastructure should be in place and tested properly by competent persons (i.e. people with a fire safety background) to ensure that infrastructure is both adequate and functional.
- Before we get into this season, last year’s after action report should be thoroughly reviewed with an eye towards knowing that any issues are addressed.
- Emergency Preparedness is more than simply having a person or team generating plans. You respond the way you prepare. You need a proper command structure that is properly resourced and properly trained and exercised teams carrying out instructions. The people involved in the EOC need the time, resources, and training to exercise properly. This needs to be done to the point of being “muscle memory.”
Individual Mitigation
Individuals also have a role to play in this. If you are a property owner, there are a few things you can do right off the bat to help your chances:
- Seek credible guidance. Consider looking through the homeowners and resources section of FireSmart for things you can do around the property.
- Go through those two sections and then work through the assessment process. Once you’ve worked through the assessment, it will give you an idea of what to work on.
One area that those living on the Shore may want to consider that does not appear on the assessment involves water sources. How much water? Let’s work this through.
First, most of our firefighters are volunteers. They aren’t just waiting at the station to go. They get called in from work and the like. According to the Emergency Response Time Targets on slide 7 of the HRFE Annual Report, the target time in Halifax is 660 seconds. That’s 11 minutes.
My next statement isn’t intended to criticize those responding–not in the least. It is meant to be a rather clinical statement that out here in the country side we don’t have nearly that level of coverage nor are we likely to see it. So, let’s assume 25 minutes.
Back to our water source. If we consider 25 minutes and 2000 gallons per minute (pretty close to a standard pumper truck but no means close to an industrial one), we need about 50,000 gallons of water. So, those of you living next to the ocean, lake, or river (or at least a good flowing stream), are likely to be ok if you can get the water from there to your house. Those further away, you might not have the same luxury, so we need to find other ways as well.
Other Individual Mitigation Measures
If we can’t get enough water, we definitely need to pay more attention to keeping the fire away from the structure. So let’s assume that we do all the clearing and things that are mentioned in the Fire Smart program. Now what?
Let’s arm ourselves with a bit more knowledge. This video is from the National Fire Protection Association and looks at how embers ignite roofs. Utah state university and Marin had ideas as well. It’s about an hour long and may be a bit more than needed, but if you’re planning to get into a fair fight with a wildfire, you’re taking the wrong approach.
Our basic fire triangle is fire, heat, and fuel.
There are two things we can do (being armed with information from the above). First, we can reduce the amount of fuel and how easily the fire can use that fuel. That’s building materials and maintenance. Second, we can reduce heat. The BC Fire Smart (and BC had a rough fire season in 2023) looked at home sprinklers and structure protection units, then published some guidance. As a hint, the city may want to look at the Type 1 and Type 2 trailers discussed on the second page.
Getting Prepared
The reason why I put cleaning property and the other measures under mitigation is because you’re not likely going to have time to accomplish them all if you are suddenly staring down a potential wildfire. When we’re talking about preparedness, we’re now into the short term.
I’m not going to get into making sure you have plans or kits packed, but these are important. Take a look at the NS Emergency Management Office’s checklists and the like. But there’s a few other things you’ll need to do.
Roof Mounted Sprinklers
This is where those roof-mounted sprinklers and other measures can be set up and made ready to go. That being said, remember it takes time to properly soak something and there’s a balancing point to be found between “good and soaked” and creating water damage. The good news for some of us is that we’re on wells out here (this could be a problem for dug wells if they’ve been going dry due to drought). This means that we can can soak down the roof, sides, and start to saturate the ground in advance.
Outside of the routes on the NS EMO website and other similar sites, there’s a routine that can be followed:
- Check for the risk of wildfires in terms of conditions. Natural Resources Canada has an interactive map that gives pretty good indicators. If you’re not in that zone and the Fire Restrictions website is showing green, you’re probably in decent shape.
- If there are riskier conditions, you can check some of the fire reporting pages on the “Current Conditions” page here. If you see fires upwind of you, pay close attention.
- If you see things getting progressively more difficult, make sure you get through your preparations and keep an ear out for alerts. If it looks like there’s something that could be there in a day or so, start soaking (I just use this as a number, if you need to know how long to do this for, check with your local fire services or natural resources people).
Recreational (ATV and Off-Highway Vehicles)
These rides offer a great break from any number of routines. Most of the riders I know are pretty responsible. That being said, take the time to do the following:
- Maintain your vehicle to prevent sparks.
- Operate your vehicle in a way that you’re not leaving dry fuel in contact with hot exhaust.
- Carry basic fire fighting kit like a portable pack and entrenching tool in case you start something.
The Government of Alberta published some guidance that may prove useful. You might also consider the recommendations at the end of the Wildfire Operations Research Group out in Alberta that looked at ATV’s and wildfire ignition.
Smoking and Butts
There is a certain level of sheer frustration that most reasonable people feel when they see someone tossing a smouldering cigarette butt into the dry grass on the side of the road. The frustration really comes through when we had to literally ban just about everything in the woods last May.