On the verge of ‘unprecedented’ heat wave, Kamloops Fire Centre officials ponder campfire ban

“This is building very quickly and very broadly,” he told CFJC Today. “It’s affecting Oregon, Washington, B.C., Yukon, N.W.T., Alberta, into Saskatchewan. It’s massive and it’s early and it’s long and high-amplitude, so the temperatures are extreme.”

While weather forecasting is a tricky business, Castellan says he and his colleagues are very certain about this forecast.

“In the middle of winter or during a big, active storm cycle or big, convective weather, we generally are talking about 24 hours or 48 hours before we really lose a lot of that certainty in the forecast,” he said. “In this case, the forecast is actually bombproof, minus the details. We are talking about high certainty already a week ago about this event.”

“The consensus now is that things are going to stay very hot, peaking on Sunday, Monday, even Tuesday and then a very slow release,” he added. “It’s not going to be dramatic; you’re still going to deal with these warm nights, warm days, still well above normal in terms of the actual temperature.”

Castellan notes overnight lows will only get to about 22 degrees during this time — which is just a few degrees lower than the average daytime highs for late June.

He adds the greatest concern is for human health and for the risk of forest fires.

“We’ve had the driest March, April and May on record for parts of the Okanagan, into the southeast and even in Victoria. We’re talking about a big precipitation deficit affecting the landscape,” Castellan said.

According to the B.C. Wildfire Service, the conditions in the back country are what we would normally see in July and August.

“To date this year, Kamloops has received less-than-average amounts of precipitation,” said Fire Information Officer Madison Smith. “This means that the deeper fuels are drying out earlier than usual and they’re highly susceptible to fire starts with a greater likelihood of spreading.”

The fire danger rating is moderate-to-high in most of the Kamloops Fire Centre. While Category 2 and 3 fires are already prohibited, wildfire officials are now discussing whether to enact a campfire ban before Canada Day.

“B.C. Wildfire Service has been reviewing the considerations for how the fire risk is determined throughout the province, such as the amount and type of fuel available for combustion, the moisture content of organic materials and the drought codes, and what trigger thresholds are used to implement a campfire ban,” said Smith.

“There might be more coming down the pipe in regards to a campfire ban, but it’s too early to tell. Our team is constantly looking at the need for that.”

Aside from the risk of wildfires, the extreme heat will also have an impact on those who are medically vulnerable and those who work outside.

“This is going to have a physiological impact on everybody — particularly on the vulnerable, so our elderly, our young people, infants and children, people who are taking special medications that don’t work well with heat.”

The City of Kamloops has opened up Sandman Centre for those who need to escape the heat.

by James Peters

On the verge of ‘unprecedented’ heat wave, Kamloops Fire Centre officials ponder campfire ban

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