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Wednesday, July 8, 2015
WILDFIRE
Blaze grows across mountain Control burn planned for Dog Mountain
» Martin Mars water bomber
KRISTI DOBSON ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
The effects of the wildfire consuming Dog Mountain were hard to ignore throughout the Valley on Tuesday, with particulate matter levels several times the provincial threshold for healthy air. A crew of 33 firefighters, including the Thunderbirds, and three helicopters continued to fight the fire, which grew from 96 hectares to 125 hectares overnight. Tentative plans for Tuesday were to conduct a controlled burn. “It would be a burn-off done in very small stages,” said Marg Drysdale, fire information officer at the Coastal Fire Centre. “They will look around with a specialist and could call it off up until the last minute if they are not comfortable with it.” She said the burn would be set at the same intensity as the wildfire, resulting in extremely smokey air for two to three days before it dissipates. Regional district CAO Russell Dyson has continued to work alongside emergency teams to keep the community aware of emergency practices. “Things are going as well as they can under the circumstances,” Dyson said. Dyson said he has been fielding inquiries and putting logistics in place to ensure the mountain cabins remain secure during the evacuation order process. “All of the owners have been informed of the threat and the need to evacuate,” Dyson said. “There are still fire service personnel that remain onsite.” He said it is the falling rock and woody debris that are causing threats and stressed the importance of being prepared. “There is no evacuation notice for residents across the lake, but now is a good time to take precautions,” he said. He suggests packing a 72-hour emergency kit, keeping gutters clean and picking up wood debris. The smoke advisory issued by the Ministry of Environment on Monday continued through Tuesday, as fine particulate matter remained at high levels. At 8:00 a.m. Tuesday, the provincial air quality website reported levels at Alberni Elementary at about 52 micrograms. By 9:00 a.m. it rose to 101.9 and by the afternoon it reached 175.
As smoke from the nearby Dog Mountian fire filled Sproat Lake with a haze, Coulson Flying Tankers personnel had the Hawaii Mars bomber on the water Tuesday in preparation for a potential order from the province’s Ministry of Forests to privide firefighting support. [ERIC PLUMMER, TIMES]
Bomber back on the water, but province declines to order air tanker into action ERIC PLUMMER ALBERNI VALLEY TIMES
After over a year of inactivity, the iconic Hawaii Mars water bomber is back on Sproat Lake in preparation for a deployment order from the provincial government. But as a nearby wildfire continues to spread across Dog Mountain, the aircraft and its ability to drop 27,200 litres of water at a time will remain on the lake until a directive comes from the province’s Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. “It would be illegal for us to take the Mars onto a fire without approval from the government,” said Wayne Coulson, CEO of Coulson Flying Tankers and the waters bomber’s owner, in an email to the Times this week. As of Tuesday afternoon a deployment order had not been given to fly the Mars bomber over the Dog Mountain fire, which had grown to 125 hectares in less than three days. Alberni-Pacific Rim MLA Scott Fraser said he pounded on the door of Steve Thomson, forestry minister, and spoke to department aids , but so far his calls to send
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the Mars over Dog Mountain have not been answered. “They are willfully putting people, property, forests and lives at risk,” said Fraser. “They’re talking about going outside of the province to get more help, well the Mars has fought fires all over the world, it’s sitting there ready to go.” Many residents in the Alberni Valley and across B.C. agree, as indicated in the more than 20,000 names collected by on an online petition at change.org for the province to sign the Hawaii Mars to a long-term firefighting contract. Last year a resolution passed by the Union of B.C. Municipalities pushed for the provincial government to make the same commitment. After opting not to renew the Mars contract for 2014, the province reconsidered the aircraft this year, making a standby contract with Coulson in the spring. But the Ministry of Forests contends that the bomber’s abilities are limited and costly for B.C.’s diverse, mountainous terrain. “While there are more cost-effective options available, in the right circumstances, it can
now be called on to supplement the airtanker fleet,” stated the ministry, noting that the aircraft is not available to the province from July 20-31. “Due to its size, the Mars water bomber can only land on and scoop up water from about 113 bodies of water in B.C., as opposed to the 1,700 lakes that the skimmers currently in use can access.” With homes by Sproat Lake facing an evacuation order, many locals are having difficulty understanding the logic of allowing the world largest water bomber to remain idle. Over 215,000 hectares of B.C. forest have burned so far this year, a total that could have been mitigated if the Mars bomber had been deployed, said Fraser. He believes the Dog Mountain wildfire should never have been permitted to grow to its current size. “This is bordering on criminal,” Fraser said. “This fire shouldn’t have even happened, it should have been put out when the first call went out. The Mars would have put that out in one or two sweeps.”
See FIRE, Page 3
Eric.Plummer@avtimes.net
Regional district prepares for tree clearing at airport
Pot Luck Ceramics opens on Gertrude When a group of volunteers decided last year to relocate their business, they had a vision of creating an urban country-style cottage in the city. » Alberni Region, 3
Over $126,000 is set aside to remove vegetation from the facility near Sproat Lake. » Alberni Region, 3
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