Fire seasons in B.C. becoming longer and more volatile

Flannigan went so far as to say the province is starting to move towards a year-round fire season, which could present more challenges not only in B.C. but around the world.

“There has been some recent research that suggest that we are seeing more extreme fire weather globally, and they are overlapping at the timing of these extreme periods,” Flannigan told CFJC News. “So that we may not be able to avail ourselves to resources from Australia, United States or Europe because they are going to be experiencing bad fire seasons at the same time we are.”

Over eight per cent of Canada’s forest has burned in the past three years, with more area burned from 2017 to now than in the 76 years prior. Flannigan said he sees this summer as a litmus test.

“We were in a La Niña, which is usually globally a cooler period,” Flannigan explained.

“We are neutral right now and the models suggest we are going rapidly to a strong or super El Niño, which may mean our forecasts for the summer are conservative in terms of temperature so it will be even hotter, and the hotter we get the more fire we see.”

Kamloops has experience year-over-year drought, something Flannigan noted helps “load the dice” for fire season ahead. As conditions become more volatile, and fire seasons get longer, fire fighters are the front lines are also expected to get less relief come night fall.

“Because our climate is getting warmer, it’s warming more rapidly during the night than it is during the day,” said Flannigan.

“So we aren’t getting that advantage of that night time break as much as we used to, and [the new report] looks forward the future and says it’s almost disappearing, where fires will be burning 24 hours a day.”

by Michael Reeve

Fire seasons in B.C. becoming longer and more volatile

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