Ministry of Forests and Range, Wildfire Management Branch

2011 Fire Season Summary

The 2011 fire season will go down in history as one of the slowest on record. Cool and wet conditions in the spring and early summer months resulted in minimal fire activity. Record breaking temperatures in late August and early September dried out the province and increased the danger ratings. But the number of fire starts remained low because there was very little lightning activity.

During the season, the Wildfire Management Branch was afforded the opportunity to export a record number of 2,073 personnel to out-of-province jurisdictions, including Alberta, Ontario, the Yukon, Alaska, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, Washington, Texas, and Montana. In previous fire seasons B.C. has been supported by many of these jurisdictions, and this year provided a good opportunity to return the favour.

By the first week of September, fire danger ratings in most areas of the province were high to extreme, and these conditions persisted through until the end of the month. The most notable fire during this time only reached eight hectares in size and was mopped up within a couple days.

Due to the quiet season, the province spent considerably less ($66.7M) on firefighting, and recovered approximately $28.6M from out-of-province deployments.

The number of fires this season was three times below average, while the total area burned was 10 times less than average. Furthermore, 91 per cent of the total hectares burned this year in B.C. were consumed by one fire in the northwest of the province?the Tsigar Lake Fire.

During the fire season, Wildfire Management Branch was also able to lend out resources to other provincial jurisdictions, including Emergency Management B.C. and B.C. Highways.

There were only a handful of notable fires during this fire season. Only one fire?the Bear Creek Park Fire in West Kelowna?caused an evacuation order.

Notable 2011 Fires

Kamloops Fire Centre:

  • Eight hectare fire at Bear Creek in west Kelowna; caused the evacuation of approximately 550 people.

Northwest Fire Centre:

  • 11,000 hectare fire at Tisigar Lake, south of Yukon border; the largest single fire in the province.

Number of Fires

  • By Cause:
    • 438 caused by people
    • 208 caused by lightning
  • By Fire Centre:
    • Coastal: 90
    • Northwest: 20
    • Prince George: 105
    • Kamloops: 243
    • Southeast: 132
    • Cariboo: 56
  • Total: 646 Fires

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