Latest news with #firemanagement
E&E News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Trump orders stepped-up wildfire efforts in executive order
President Donald Trump on Thursday directed federal wildfire agencies to more closely coordinate efforts but stopped short of calling for creation of a new wildfire agency separate from the Forest Service. In an executive order, the president directed the Agriculture and Interior departments to consolidate 'to the maximum degree practicable' their wildland fire programs within 90 days. He directed the departments to recommend additional measures to advance the objective, which could include the new wildland fire service the administration proposed to Congress in its budget request for fiscal 2026. Advertisement The executive order touches on other objectives, including strengthening mutual aid efforts with states and localities and developing and expanding the use of additional land management practices to reduce wildfire threats. In calling for the moves, Trump cited the destruction of the Los Angeles wildfires and in part blamed 'reckless mismanagement' for those and other fires. 'Wildfires threaten every region, yet many local government entities continue to disregard commonsense preventative measures. Firefighters across the country are forced to rely on outdated technology and face challenges in quickly responding to wildfires because of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy,' the executive order said. The order also directs EPA to consider changing or rescinding regulations that stand in the way of using prescribed fire, which appears to refer to air pollution considerations that members of both parties say need revisiting to encourage prescribed burns. The order directs the attorney general to to review all pending and proposed wildfire litigation involving utility companies to ensure the department's positions advance wildfire prevention priorities.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
Squamish fire, Vancouver warning?
The Dryden Creek fire north of Squamish, B.C., is just the latest blaze burning near a city. As wildfires get closer to urban areas across North America, CBC's Johanna Wagstaffe looks at new research that shows cities might actually be making fires worse.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Science
- CTV News
B.C. First Nations return to traditional practices to reduce wildfire risk
As wildfire seasons seem to grow longer and more intense year after year, many B.C. First Nations are looking to the past for solutions to make their communities more fire resilient. In the northwest corner of the province, the Cheslatta First Nation has come under threat multiple times in recent years. 'Almost half of Cheslatta's territory has been burnt since 2010,' said Cheslatta forestry manager Logan Wilson. 'It's already a rural community and there's forest in-between each member's houses. And so forestry is a component of assisting with the goal of reducing wildfire risk in the community.' In addition to using forestry to reduce available fuel for wildfires, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation is also considering a fire mitigation tool First Nations in B.C. employed for thousands of years before colonization. Cultural burns can be used to protect communities by reducing flammable forest fuels – or for other purposes, such as engineering the landscape for the benefit of specific plants or wildlife. Many First Nations utilizing cultural burns are working in collaboration with researchers at UBC's Faculty of Forestry, who received a USD$780,000 grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation to study Indigenous practices of wildfire management and forest restoration. 'As a biophysical scientist, I'm just constantly in awe of the deep expertise and knowledge of the landscape and how that continues, especially as conditions are changing so rapidly,' said Kira Hoffman, a UBC research assistant working on the project. Planning and preparation for the controlled burns can take months, or even years. The burns are only conducted under ideal conditions, usually in the spring or fall, and often with assistance from the B.C. Wildfire Service. 'The development of a burn plan is really crucial and takes place well before fire is ever applied to the landscape,' said BCWS fire information officer Sarah Budd. The BCWS said it participated in 48 prescribed burns in 2024, altering more than 3,400 hectares of land, an area more than eight times the size of Vancouver's Stanley Park. Twenty-three of those burns were conducted in collaboration with First Nations. Remembering how fast a wildfire exploded near the community last summer, the Cheslatta Carrier Nation is making plans to fight fire with fire. 'One day it consumed about 10,000 hectares,' said Wilson. 'So, it has a huge impact on the land and the community with fires when you're not able to control them.' Logan said the nation has not yet determined exactly where or when it will conduct a cultural burn.
Globe and Mail
04-06-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
National strategy to fight wildfires needed, fire chiefs say
Raging wildfires that have forced mass evacuations and triggered states of emergency in two Canadian provinces have led to renewed calls for a federal agency responsible for fire management and emergency co-ordination. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs has advocated for a national fire administration for close to a decade, its calls increasing in urgency after the country experienced its most destructive wildfire season on record in 2023. 'The significant increase of wildfires in Canada has continued to remind us of the importance of not stopping, and not giving up this effort,' CAFC president Ken McMullen said in an interview on Tuesday. 'In fact, these fires remind us that the importance of this increases every day.' Thousands of hotel rooms opened for wildfire evacuees from Western Canada The association, which represents about 3,200 fire departments across Canada, has had productive conversations with former ministers of emergency preparedness Bill Blair and Harjit Sajjan, who, along with former prime minister Justin Trudeau, had acknowledged a need for some sort of a national disaster response agency. However, with the 2025 wildfire season well under way, Canada remains one of the few G7 countries without such an agency. This week, Mr. McMullen's association wrote to federal party leaders, their top aides and key ministries, reiterating its call to co-ordinate fire-related matters through a national fire administration. It has not yet received a reply. The Ministry of Emergency Management and Community Resilience did not respond to a request from The Globe and Mail for comment on Tuesday. In the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency co-ordinates the federal response to all types of large-scale disasters, working with states, Tribal Nations and territories. The U.S. Fire Administration operates within FEMA and focuses on fire prevention, education, research and training. Wildfire smoke map: Which parts of Canada are under air quality warnings? Currently, provinces and territories are primarily responsible for their own wildfire management, with support from the federal government. The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre co-ordinates firefighting resources for wildland fire management agencies in Canada and internationally, handling requests for additional personnel, equipment, aircraft, information and expertise. Ali Asgary, a professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Toronto, said current arrangements are neither sufficient nor efficient in managing or responding to multiple and multiprovincial emergencies across Canada. 'The existing level of support often comes too late, and not up to the tasks at hand, since the personnel are not trained for such tasks, and the required resources are not organized and distributed well for an immediate and rapid response,' he said. A Canadian FEMA-like organization would enable local governments 'to do more and better with their limited resources, and benefit from an economy of scale that saves a lot when such resources are available to all provinces.' Mike Flannigan, a professor of wildland fire at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C., said Canada would benefit from a federal firefighting force that can deploy quickly and proactively – based on fire weather forecasts – under a unified command, without the jurisdictional issues of the current approach. 'Right now when you make the call, there will be three days before you see that firefighter, that pump, that hose, that helicopter on the fire line,' he said. 'Many times, that's three days too late.' Prof. Flannigan noted that while some wildland firefighting agencies – such as those in B.C. and Alberta – are moving toward pro-active resource deployment, the changing climate requires Canada take a more comprehensive approach. Mr. McMullen, the CAFC president, noted that the role of a national fire administration would reach far beyond wildfire response and prevention. As cities grappling with housing shortages mull building code changes to allow for single-stairwell apartments, for example, the office could provide a high-level subject matter expert on fire safety issues. A national fire administration could also advise on federal policy such as that involving electric vehicles and lithium ion batteries, climate adaptation and the transportation of dangerous goods, he said.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Ephrata area fire damages about 26 acres Thursday
May 31—EPHRATA — On Thursday at around 4:30 p.m., Grant County Fire District 13 was called out to a fire in the 12000 block of Road B.6 Northwest. The fire started as a controlled burn, but because of the winds, it quickly became uncontrolled. "It was a prime example of a control burn getting out of control," GCFD13 Chief Jim Stucky said. "I do not know the actual details. But he probably thought, just like everybody else, 'it's a very slight breeze, I can keep this contained.' Then next thing you know, just a little puff of wind just takes an ember somewhere. That's the way it goes and then they can't catch it, and we get called out." The blaze burned around 25 acres of land before it was contained at around 5:30 p.m., according to Stucky. Crews from GCFD13, Grant County Fire District 5 and Ephrata Fire Department stayed on scene until about 8 p.m. to complete mop-up. Between the three departments, they had around nine trucks managing the fire. "But then there's a couple hours of mopping up. We have to try to cool everything down," he said. "We had to get it out because we knew it was a windy night. Fortunately, it didn't come back overnight." No injuries or structural damage occurred because of the fire; however, some rangeland was damaged and GCFD13 popped a tire on one of the department's vehicles. "If there's even the slightest wind, don't burn, please," Stucky said. "We're just kind of getting a bunch of these fires that don't need to happen." Stucky wants to remind people that the burn ban will be in effect beginning Sunday, which means no fires are allowed within Grant County limits. "No more burning after June 1," Stucky said. "You can really damage property, hurt people and get fines if you decide to burn. Please be careful with any firepits, if that's something you decide to do and keep water nearby in case it decides to spread. Fire is unpredictable and we need to be careful with hotter, drier days coming ahead."
