May 2, 2024 • 19 mins
As spring unfolds and the leaves come out, the risk of wildfires in Nova Scotia climbs. A year after the devastating wildfires, an independent report on the response was released by the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables. For more on the response and forest fire prevention, Jim Rudderham, Director for Fleet and Forest Protection was made available. He discusses the critical role of moisture levels, the Burnsafe Map, and how volunteer firefighters are stepping up to safeguard our natural resources. He also discusses the science behind burn restrictions and why burning is always restricted between 8am and 2pm during wildfire risk season. And in the end, it’s all about the collective effort needed from landowners and the community to prevent wildfires.
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(00:16):
So this landed in my email inboxon Monday, the news release saying the
government is taking action to address recommendationsin a new report the firefighting response to
the historic Barrington Lake and Tantalan wildfireslast year. As you remember, the
Barrington Lake fire the largest in recordedhistory of Nova Scotia, burning twenty three
three hundred and seventy nine hectares.The Tantalan wildfire burned nine hundred and sixty
(00:40):
nine hectares and combined they destroyed morethan two hundred homes. Now, that
release referenced something called the twenty twentythree Nova Scotia Wildfire After Action Report,
and it was, at least,according to government, a response that was
successfully coordinated and conducted with the collaborativeapproach to emergency management working well. And
they made several recommendations. Now thedepartment has already started implementing some of them.
(01:04):
Did offer us a chance to speakwith Jim Rutterham. He's Director of
Fleet and Forest Protection for Department ofNatural Resources and Renewables. This is my
podcast called Thinking out Loud, presentit to you by Saltwire. In twenty
(01:26):
twenty three, there were two hundredand twenty wildfires in Nova Scotia burning about
twenty five thousand hectares. All eyesare on the burn safe map and on
ways to prevent a similar situation intwenty twenty four. Jim Rutterham Jim,
are you d D E. RHjam. I'm the director for Fleet and
Forest Protection for Natural Resources and Renewables. This morning some rain in Nova Scotia.
(01:52):
The burn safe map today is yellow. I see there's an update from
Natural Resources Renewables about some of theprogress moving forward. I want to look
to the immediate right now, whatis the current status. I've seen some
concern over the amount of moisture andthe risk to firefighter in Nova Scotia right
now. Yeah, so we hadit was quite a drying trend last week
(02:16):
the weekend. Most of the mainlandwas in the no burn situation, with
the exception of one county. Wedid get a little bit of moisture last
evening, which we will take moisturewhenever we can get it, but it's
not a lot as representing by astill restrictive burning today, and if we
get a nice warm day tomorrow andthe rest of the week, we'll be
(02:37):
back into no burning as well veryquickly. Can you help people understand why.
First of all, this time ofyear, just before the leaves come
out, is especially of concern tothe wildfire risk YEP, So this is
a this is a green up timeof year. The trees are drawing a
lot of moisture to grow the leavessoftwood. Softwoods as well are growing more
(03:02):
needles so that the tree is drybecause they're starting to do their processes to
get going for the season. Plus, it's that all the surface fuels are
very dry as well this time ofthe year, because nothing's you know,
it dries very fast. So it'sbecause fire can burn so fast over the
(03:23):
surface right now, and the treesthemselves are dry, it can cause fires
to burn very quickly and very rapidlythis time of year. And I hate
to do this to you, butasking to explain the rules as they exist
so people can perhaps love I wouldlove to. I would love to true.
First of all, full credit tothe department for putting the previous day's
(03:46):
burn map or to turn it tored in the day at the time when
burning is not allowed. I thinkthat's an incredible visual and I think that's
going to help. Could you talkabout why some people feel as counterintuitive that
the map is yellow so that youwould be allowed to burn between midnight and
eight am. They think that,well, if it's a ban, it's
a band and you shouldn't be allowedto burn. Someone actually said, what
fire doesn't burn at night? Right? So can I explain the conditions and
(04:10):
why we set them that way?So our burn restrictions are updated every day
at two o'clock, and that's importantbecause the National Fire Danger Rating System we
take weather readings at the same timeat one o'clock, and these are real
weather. It's not based on forecasts. Because we live on a peninsula in
the North Atlantic. It's very importantpeople understand that forecasts can change very quickly.
(04:31):
Actual weather doesn't change. That's what'sactually taking place. So that's what
we record. So you can't burnany day between eight and two because we
don't know what's going to happen attwo. I understand that a day that
it's raining, you know, isprobably going to be that green at two
o'clock doesn't matter. You can't burnbetween eight and two because if you're allowed
to burn and the conditions worsened,your fire is likely going to spread.
(04:56):
Or at two o'clock as could benear impossible to put it out. So
that's why that rules in place.At two o'clock, the weather reading is
done. It comes from all ofour weather stations around the province. It's
communicate to the public through our burnSafe website and our phone line, and
it's based on a county. Andthis is a cumulative reading that starts at
the very start of fire season.Actually you can start before that, depending
(05:18):
on when the snow leaves your area. And it allows us to see how
dry all the fuels are. Surfacefuels are the grasses and the small leaves.
They burn very quickly. But aswe get into the season, as
things get drier and drier, thefuels in the ground get drier and drier
and our fires will burn deep.That's what happened last morning. The fires
(05:39):
burned deep because we had a couplemonths of good drought, not good drought,
we had a couple months of drout. As we go through the fire
season, if we get a firein August and things get drier as we
go, the fires can burn extremelydeep. It takes a long time to
put them out. So that's whythe burn restrictions are as they are,
and it is based on science.So if you can safely burn, you're
(06:01):
allowed to burn it too. Ifyou can, it's at seven and if
you can, you can't burn itall. And that's that's how they're set.
I'll stay away from some of myother opinions about people not respecting that
for this particular reason because of therelease that came out today. As we
are approaching the one year anniversary,I happen to be in tan Talent over
the weekend. We can see thatsome of the old burn timber is being
(06:26):
harvested. It's being taken out,so that fuel is being removed, So
hopefully that will lessen any type ofoverburn in those areas that have burned already.
I'm sure that there are still areasof the province that were hit devastated
by Dorian and other major hurricane eventsthat caused windfall. So overall, how
does how do you see the riskof forest fire and Nova Scotia and what
(06:47):
can be done to mitigate mitigate thefuel sources that are out there? Sure
well, it's a majority of theseventy percent of this province is privately owned,
so it's really incumbent on land ownersto clean up their properties or however
they want to manage their properties.That's their parrogter of what they want to
(07:09):
do. I know we had alot of blowdowns, a lot of stuff
from different things as well. Weare aware of those areas, We know
where they exist. Our staff arecertainly living those areas and they know what
to expect as well too, Sothere's a good situational awareness of what's out
there and what they can expect youto be a fire for sure. The
(07:30):
province released a statement today that they'revery pleased with the progress and they are
working to take action to address recommendationsin the report on the firefighting response.
What has changed? What is differentin twenty twenty four that was not in
place this time of year last year. So we as you were well aware,
we had to unprecedented fires occur atthe same time last year, which
(07:54):
is why we commissioned the report froman outside agency. We used a lot
of people within our own department thatnormally aren't employed to fight wildfires. We
recognize some talents there. Everyone cameto help. So those people that never
were involve the wildfires before, nowthey have that awareness. Now we have
an idea who's out there and whattheir skill set can be. It's not
(08:16):
all just pushing a host of thewoods. There's a lot of other jobs
as well that have to be done. We worked with a lot of agencies
last year that also are not involvedin wildfire fighting, so now they have
an awareness, we have an awarenessof them, and we've already started talks
and how we can do things bettershould that ever happen again, about whose
(08:37):
roles are, what and what wecan expect each other to do and where
we can help each other. Italso makes a note of some wildfire training
that was offered throughout through the Departmentof Natural Resources Renewables. I could show
you my card just up the coursea few weeks ago. What is it
you want volunteer agencies to know aboutwhat is out there for their support for
(09:00):
them to be able to help inthe case of a wildfire. Sure,
we've had long standing arrangements and agreementsand work cooperation with the Fire Service Associations
in Nova Scotia. That's f SANDS, who are the overacching group for the
municipal fire departments. We've offered thattraining. We built that training in conjunction
with f SANDS and other municipal firedepartments to offer a course that would help
(09:24):
give firefighters a basic idea of wildfirefighting, which is completely different a course
than fighting a structure fire. Sothat's been offered. We do offer some
equipment to help them as well.So we work long, long, long
time with them and we continue Wevalue the support that they give us.
We always have and we continue toso that's a good, good cooperation for
(09:46):
sure. The course that volunteer firefighterswere offered specifically through the province. It's
available for folks if they want toreview that. It's online, it's easy
enough to find. But there wasanother program offered through f SANDS which was
essentially another contingent of firefighters who maybe in the volunteer service who want to
step forward for additional training. Whereis that at I heard that were as
(10:09):
many as forty or so that madethe final cut. Yeah, so that
that was our wildfire reserve, wildfirefighter reserve that we started last year during
the heat of the battle with thefires, we did need extra help.
We had so many people asking tohelp fight the wildfires. We really don't
have a mechanism to hire people.We certainly didn't have capasses the time to
(10:31):
train or route for people with gear. So in conjunction with f SANDS again
we asked for their help with thatbecause a lot of these people were volunteer
firefighters from other parts of the province. And we said, if you had
the basic wildfire course through the departmentwith f SANDS for your department, and
you had your PPE and you werewilling to come and pass and work,
(10:54):
you know, take our physical fitnesstraining as well because that's a requirement.
Had to pass our level for that, and we did that during the battle
and we did hire two dozen peopleto help fight and Barton late last year
and that also placed during that week. So this year that's already been done.
At the calling up by f SANDSin the winter, we completed our
(11:16):
physical tests fusiness training already and wehave sixty people that are available and have
passed all the levels that need toget to help us fight fire should we
need them. And to be quitehonest, I've told many people I really
hope we don't need them, butat least the work is done now and
if we do need them, they'reready to go and we're ready to accept
(11:37):
them. The release also takes noteof this new Volunteer Corps the Nova Scotia
Guard does. What do you envisionand how will it work or perhaps respond
to a wildfire in particular. Yeah, we really don't know that yet,
but I'm looking forward to continue totalks with people about that. To have
(11:58):
us ructure in place that can coordinatevolunteers and help us find out what the
volunteers skill set is and where theiraptitudes are will be very will be very
helpful for many situations should they happen. So I'm waiting to see how that's
going to pan out and looking forwardto that. The Department, as you
say, had three hundred wild landfirefighters throughout the province, hunds more volunteer
(12:24):
municipal firefighters as well as equipment.I know the announcement was made that helicopters
are going to be replaced. Whereare you at in the process there that
they are going to replace. Theywill probably all be in place in the
next three years. It takes awhile to build them and get them into
circulation. Has there ever been anyinterest under the Emergencies Act? Too?
(12:45):
Well, and quite honestly, asksome of the private corporations that own helicopters
to add their fleet or make theirfleet available to the province. We did
last year. We did use verymany of them. They came and they
helped and they were They work withus with our air services as well.
So it has happened in the past, and I to say it, I
(13:07):
hope it doesn't happen again, butif it does, we're prepared for that
as well. Is Jim Rutterham makinga case that a water bomber is needed.
We have four water bombers, wecall them helicopters, and they work
very well for us. In thelast ten years, they've responded to so
many fires that people don't even knowabout. And the last ten years we've
had to call for external fixed wingwater bombers four times. So we are
(13:28):
paying attention to that. We alwaysexplore our options. We do have agreements
with other parts of the country thatwe can pull those in when we need
them, and we have done that. So we continue to watch that and
we continue to see where our trendsare taking us. Based on the training
I had, you've got twenty minutesfrom the time of wild fire starts until
(13:50):
it gets to a point where it'sgoing to need a serious intervention or you're
confident that the resources are in placein the place parts of the province where
fewer humans live and perhaps more uhmaybe a little farther from a place where
people can be mustard to help.Yeah, I am. We've done it
for many, many years. Wewe stationed our helicopters around the province,
(14:11):
depending on the hazard, wherever theyhave to be. On the weekend,
there was one of McGowan Lake readyto go, one here Shuber in Acuty.
You know they're they're they're where theyhave to be to get the quickest
response we can get. Plus,we have our crews who are all around
the province and and they're ready torespond as well. And they're on call.
I mean they're they're working during thefire season. They were every day
(14:35):
of the week, you know,their scheduled to work every day the week.
So they're there as well. Sowe can go back in time because
I know I asked you this inthe past. Uh, the fire towers
and the decommissioning of those, Whywas that technology no longer or why was
why were these specifically not safety useror why was there not a plan to
replace the curious So we replaced thatsystem with fixed wing detection. So on
(15:00):
the days that we need, thedays that we need through the fire,
through our weather, you know,days that we need fire detection, we
send planes up. We have acontract with the next journal provider for that,
and they fly predetermined routes and wesend them up and we say,
for instance, you fly Western onetoday, or you fly Western two today
(15:20):
or Eastern whichever it might be.They're all predetermined routes and they fly in
the days that we need them,and it's a very good service. They
can pinpoint where the fire is muchcloser than the fire tower can. We
should have used triangulation with the firetowers. These can circle the fire and
we can track them in our dutyroom, in our fire center, and
we can see where the fire isand then the plane can tell us what's
(15:41):
going on with that fire like thetowers could never do that. So it
was a the fire towers. We'rea big part of our history and that's
in this department, and that's changedover the years. Majority almost all of
our fires are started by people.Most everybody has a cell phone now the
fires are reported. But again wedo fly the plants and the days that
(16:03):
we need them, and they cangive us much much better information than the
fire towers could. I will disputethe fact that not that everyone has a
cell phone, but that people actuallyknow where they are and what it is
that they're seeing. And I've beendispatched to smoke, but it was dust
from the car tires in front.People who saw clouds and called it in
as a fire call. People whoare I don't know where it was.
(16:26):
I was just driving and I sawit, and it's your job to go
chase it. What do you saythe fire departments who will be likely tasked
with chasing smoke in the next coupleof weeks. Yeah, and we do
as well. It's just we getcalls from that and we have to respond
to those fires as well. Thelack of a fire tower doesn't change that.
(16:48):
All the tower could do as wellwas show us a smoke and we
walked, We went to it.So it's part of the business, unfortunately.
So anything in that report that stoodout to you that perhaps might be,
you know, long term vision andnot immediate action. I like the
fact the talk of the other groupsthat we worked with last year that we
(17:10):
then historically work with the other NGOs, the other government agencies, A lot
of people were action and groups thatI we've never worked with before, so
that that increases our knowledge, thatincreases our capacity to do things better in
the future. So that was thatwas good. We continue those talks as
well with these with those different groups. Firefighters are an expense until there's a
(17:33):
fire. There're a liability on aon a spreadsheet. Do you have enough
resource? Do you have enough people? I think so, yes, we
do. We we can draw fromother agencies we have to, but we
do for for the majority of ourfires, we're well well well taken care
of for that. Yes, anythingelse that we can add to this conversation,
Jim okay, if I can makea plug for fire prevention, that
(17:56):
would be the biggest thing. Themajority of our fires started by people.
It's everybody's responsibility to help these firesnever start. So if you go to
have an open fire during the fireseason, you must check our burn restrictions
daily and you must follow them.And if you do decide to light a
fire and make sure that you havea way to put it out, make
sure that your way to have away to call for helps. Would you
(18:17):
need to call for help? Soit's really it really falls to the public
to help everybody. It's everyone's responsibility. We need people to help and start
understanding that that that is real.So I know there was a charge late
in the Barrington fire, the BarringtonLake fire, not so in tan Talent.
Is their adequate enforcement is all theare all the pieces in place for
(18:38):
people who don't respect the rules tobe held to account. They are yes
and then and we have to followthe rules of the law as well and
go through those steps in those motionswhich we which we do. So how
do you get tired of answering thesame questions? But there's there's value in
this. So Jim Rutterhamp thank youfor this. Well, thank you,
(18:59):
Sheldon, appreciate your time. Thishas been Thinking out Loud presented to you
by Saltwire. I'm Sheldon McLeod.Thanks for listen. M
So this landed in my email inboxon Monday, the news release saying the
government is taking action to address recommendationsin a new report the firefighting response to
the historic Barrington Lake and Tantalan wildfireslast year. As you remember, the
Barrington Lake fire the largest in recordedhistory of Nova Scotia, burning twenty three
three hundred and seventy nine hectares.The Tantalan wildfire burned nine hundred and sixty
(00:40):
nine hectares and combined they destroyed morethan two hundred homes. Now, that
release referenced something called the twenty twentythree Nova Scotia Wildfire After Action Report,
and it was, at least,according to government, a response that was
successfully coordinated and conducted with the collaborativeapproach to emergency management working well. And
they made several recommendations. Now thedepartment has already started implementing some of them.
(01:04):
Did offer us a chance to speakwith Jim Rutterham. He's Director of
Fleet and Forest Protection for Department ofNatural Resources and Renewables. This is my
podcast called Thinking out Loud, presentit to you by Saltwire. In twenty
(01:26):
twenty three, there were two hundredand twenty wildfires in Nova Scotia burning about
twenty five thousand hectares. All eyesare on the burn safe map and on
ways to prevent a similar situation intwenty twenty four. Jim Rutterham Jim,
are you d D E. RHjam. I'm the director for Fleet and
Forest Protection for Natural Resources and Renewables. This morning some rain in Nova Scotia.
(01:52):
The burn safe map today is yellow. I see there's an update from
Natural Resources Renewables about some of theprogress moving forward. I want to look
to the immediate right now, whatis the current status. I've seen some
concern over the amount of moisture andthe risk to firefighter in Nova Scotia right
now. Yeah, so we hadit was quite a drying trend last week
(02:16):
the weekend. Most of the mainlandwas in the no burn situation, with
the exception of one county. Wedid get a little bit of moisture last
evening, which we will take moisturewhenever we can get it, but it's
not a lot as representing by astill restrictive burning today, and if we
get a nice warm day tomorrow andthe rest of the week, we'll be
(02:37):
back into no burning as well veryquickly. Can you help people understand why.
First of all, this time ofyear, just before the leaves come
out, is especially of concern tothe wildfire risk YEP, So this is
a this is a green up timeof year. The trees are drawing a
lot of moisture to grow the leavessoftwood. Softwoods as well are growing more
(03:02):
needles so that the tree is drybecause they're starting to do their processes to
get going for the season. Plus, it's that all the surface fuels are
very dry as well this time ofthe year, because nothing's you know,
it dries very fast. So it'sbecause fire can burn so fast over the
(03:23):
surface right now, and the treesthemselves are dry, it can cause fires
to burn very quickly and very rapidlythis time of year. And I hate
to do this to you, butasking to explain the rules as they exist
so people can perhaps love I wouldlove to. I would love to true.
First of all, full credit tothe department for putting the previous day's
(03:46):
burn map or to turn it tored in the day at the time when
burning is not allowed. I thinkthat's an incredible visual and I think that's
going to help. Could you talkabout why some people feel as counterintuitive that
the map is yellow so that youwould be allowed to burn between midnight and
eight am. They think that,well, if it's a ban, it's
a band and you shouldn't be allowedto burn. Someone actually said, what
fire doesn't burn at night? Right? So can I explain the conditions and
(04:10):
why we set them that way?So our burn restrictions are updated every day
at two o'clock, and that's importantbecause the National Fire Danger Rating System we
take weather readings at the same timeat one o'clock, and these are real
weather. It's not based on forecasts. Because we live on a peninsula in
the North Atlantic. It's very importantpeople understand that forecasts can change very quickly.
(04:31):
Actual weather doesn't change. That's what'sactually taking place. So that's what
we record. So you can't burnany day between eight and two because we
don't know what's going to happen attwo. I understand that a day that
it's raining, you know, isprobably going to be that green at two
o'clock doesn't matter. You can't burnbetween eight and two because if you're allowed
to burn and the conditions worsened,your fire is likely going to spread.
(04:56):
Or at two o'clock as could benear impossible to put it out. So
that's why that rules in place.At two o'clock, the weather reading is
done. It comes from all ofour weather stations around the province. It's
communicate to the public through our burnSafe website and our phone line, and
it's based on a county. Andthis is a cumulative reading that starts at
the very start of fire season.Actually you can start before that, depending
(05:18):
on when the snow leaves your area. And it allows us to see how
dry all the fuels are. Surfacefuels are the grasses and the small leaves.
They burn very quickly. But aswe get into the season, as
things get drier and drier, thefuels in the ground get drier and drier
and our fires will burn deep.That's what happened last morning. The fires
(05:39):
burned deep because we had a couplemonths of good drought, not good drought,
we had a couple months of drout. As we go through the fire
season, if we get a firein August and things get drier as we
go, the fires can burn extremelydeep. It takes a long time to
put them out. So that's whythe burn restrictions are as they are,
and it is based on science.So if you can safely burn, you're
(06:01):
allowed to burn it too. Ifyou can, it's at seven and if
you can, you can't burn itall. And that's that's how they're set.
I'll stay away from some of myother opinions about people not respecting that
for this particular reason because of therelease that came out today. As we
are approaching the one year anniversary,I happen to be in tan Talent over
the weekend. We can see thatsome of the old burn timber is being
(06:26):
harvested. It's being taken out,so that fuel is being removed, So
hopefully that will lessen any type ofoverburn in those areas that have burned already.
I'm sure that there are still areasof the province that were hit devastated
by Dorian and other major hurricane eventsthat caused windfall. So overall, how
does how do you see the riskof forest fire and Nova Scotia and what
(06:47):
can be done to mitigate mitigate thefuel sources that are out there? Sure
well, it's a majority of theseventy percent of this province is privately owned,
so it's really incumbent on land ownersto clean up their properties or however
they want to manage their properties.That's their parrogter of what they want to
(07:09):
do. I know we had alot of blowdowns, a lot of stuff
from different things as well. Weare aware of those areas, We know
where they exist. Our staff arecertainly living those areas and they know what
to expect as well too, Sothere's a good situational awareness of what's out
there and what they can expect youto be a fire for sure. The
(07:30):
province released a statement today that they'revery pleased with the progress and they are
working to take action to address recommendationsin the report on the firefighting response.
What has changed? What is differentin twenty twenty four that was not in
place this time of year last year. So we as you were well aware,
we had to unprecedented fires occur atthe same time last year, which
(07:54):
is why we commissioned the report froman outside agency. We used a lot
of people within our own department thatnormally aren't employed to fight wildfires. We
recognize some talents there. Everyone cameto help. So those people that never
were involve the wildfires before, nowthey have that awareness. Now we have
an idea who's out there and whattheir skill set can be. It's not
(08:16):
all just pushing a host of thewoods. There's a lot of other jobs
as well that have to be done. We worked with a lot of agencies
last year that also are not involvedin wildfire fighting, so now they have
an awareness, we have an awarenessof them, and we've already started talks
and how we can do things bettershould that ever happen again, about whose
(08:37):
roles are, what and what wecan expect each other to do and where
we can help each other. Italso makes a note of some wildfire training
that was offered throughout through the Departmentof Natural Resources Renewables. I could show
you my card just up the coursea few weeks ago. What is it
you want volunteer agencies to know aboutwhat is out there for their support for
(09:00):
them to be able to help inthe case of a wildfire. Sure,
we've had long standing arrangements and agreementsand work cooperation with the Fire Service Associations
in Nova Scotia. That's f SANDS, who are the overacching group for the
municipal fire departments. We've offered thattraining. We built that training in conjunction
with f SANDS and other municipal firedepartments to offer a course that would help
(09:24):
give firefighters a basic idea of wildfirefighting, which is completely different a course
than fighting a structure fire. Sothat's been offered. We do offer some
equipment to help them as well.So we work long, long, long
time with them and we continue Wevalue the support that they give us.
We always have and we continue toso that's a good, good cooperation for
(09:46):
sure. The course that volunteer firefighterswere offered specifically through the province. It's
available for folks if they want toreview that. It's online, it's easy
enough to find. But there wasanother program offered through f SANDS which was
essentially another contingent of firefighters who maybe in the volunteer service who want to
step forward for additional training. Whereis that at I heard that were as
(10:09):
many as forty or so that madethe final cut. Yeah, so that
that was our wildfire reserve, wildfirefighter reserve that we started last year during
the heat of the battle with thefires, we did need extra help.
We had so many people asking tohelp fight the wildfires. We really don't
have a mechanism to hire people.We certainly didn't have capasses the time to
(10:31):
train or route for people with gear. So in conjunction with f SANDS again
we asked for their help with thatbecause a lot of these people were volunteer
firefighters from other parts of the province. And we said, if you had
the basic wildfire course through the departmentwith f SANDS for your department, and
you had your PPE and you werewilling to come and pass and work,
(10:54):
you know, take our physical fitnesstraining as well because that's a requirement.
Had to pass our level for that, and we did that during the battle
and we did hire two dozen peopleto help fight and Barton late last year
and that also placed during that week. So this year that's already been done.
At the calling up by f SANDSin the winter, we completed our
(11:16):
physical tests fusiness training already and wehave sixty people that are available and have
passed all the levels that need toget to help us fight fire should we
need them. And to be quitehonest, I've told many people I really
hope we don't need them, butat least the work is done now and
if we do need them, they'reready to go and we're ready to accept
(11:37):
them. The release also takes noteof this new Volunteer Corps the Nova Scotia
Guard does. What do you envisionand how will it work or perhaps respond
to a wildfire in particular. Yeah, we really don't know that yet,
but I'm looking forward to continue totalks with people about that. To have
(11:58):
us ructure in place that can coordinatevolunteers and help us find out what the
volunteers skill set is and where theiraptitudes are will be very will be very
helpful for many situations should they happen. So I'm waiting to see how that's
going to pan out and looking forwardto that. The Department, as you
say, had three hundred wild landfirefighters throughout the province, hunds more volunteer
(12:24):
municipal firefighters as well as equipment.I know the announcement was made that helicopters
are going to be replaced. Whereare you at in the process there that
they are going to replace. Theywill probably all be in place in the
next three years. It takes awhile to build them and get them into
circulation. Has there ever been anyinterest under the Emergencies Act? Too?
(12:45):
Well, and quite honestly, asksome of the private corporations that own helicopters
to add their fleet or make theirfleet available to the province. We did
last year. We did use verymany of them. They came and they
helped and they were They work withus with our air services as well.
So it has happened in the past, and I to say it, I
(13:07):
hope it doesn't happen again, butif it does, we're prepared for that
as well. Is Jim Rutterham makinga case that a water bomber is needed.
We have four water bombers, wecall them helicopters, and they work
very well for us. In thelast ten years, they've responded to so
many fires that people don't even knowabout. And the last ten years we've
had to call for external fixed wingwater bombers four times. So we are
(13:28):
paying attention to that. We alwaysexplore our options. We do have agreements
with other parts of the country thatwe can pull those in when we need
them, and we have done that. So we continue to watch that and
we continue to see where our trendsare taking us. Based on the training
I had, you've got twenty minutesfrom the time of wild fire starts until
(13:50):
it gets to a point where it'sgoing to need a serious intervention or you're
confident that the resources are in placein the place parts of the province where
fewer humans live and perhaps more uhmaybe a little farther from a place where
people can be mustard to help.Yeah, I am. We've done it
for many, many years. Wewe stationed our helicopters around the province,
(14:11):
depending on the hazard, wherever theyhave to be. On the weekend,
there was one of McGowan Lake readyto go, one here Shuber in Acuty.
You know they're they're they're where theyhave to be to get the quickest
response we can get. Plus,we have our crews who are all around
the province and and they're ready torespond as well. And they're on call.
I mean they're they're working during thefire season. They were every day
(14:35):
of the week, you know,their scheduled to work every day the week.
So they're there as well. Sowe can go back in time because
I know I asked you this inthe past. Uh, the fire towers
and the decommissioning of those, Whywas that technology no longer or why was
why were these specifically not safety useror why was there not a plan to
replace the curious So we replaced thatsystem with fixed wing detection. So on
(15:00):
the days that we need, thedays that we need through the fire,
through our weather, you know,days that we need fire detection, we
send planes up. We have acontract with the next journal provider for that,
and they fly predetermined routes and wesend them up and we say,
for instance, you fly Western onetoday, or you fly Western two today
(15:20):
or Eastern whichever it might be.They're all predetermined routes and they fly in
the days that we need them,and it's a very good service. They
can pinpoint where the fire is muchcloser than the fire tower can. We
should have used triangulation with the firetowers. These can circle the fire and
we can track them in our dutyroom, in our fire center, and
we can see where the fire isand then the plane can tell us what's
(15:41):
going on with that fire like thetowers could never do that. So it
was a the fire towers. We'rea big part of our history and that's
in this department, and that's changedover the years. Majority almost all of
our fires are started by people.Most everybody has a cell phone now the
fires are reported. But again wedo fly the plants and the days that
(16:03):
we need them, and they cangive us much much better information than the
fire towers could. I will disputethe fact that not that everyone has a
cell phone, but that people actuallyknow where they are and what it is
that they're seeing. And I've beendispatched to smoke, but it was dust
from the car tires in front.People who saw clouds and called it in
as a fire call. People whoare I don't know where it was.
(16:26):
I was just driving and I sawit, and it's your job to go
chase it. What do you saythe fire departments who will be likely tasked
with chasing smoke in the next coupleof weeks. Yeah, and we do
as well. It's just we getcalls from that and we have to respond
to those fires as well. Thelack of a fire tower doesn't change that.
(16:48):
All the tower could do as wellwas show us a smoke and we
walked, We went to it.So it's part of the business, unfortunately.
So anything in that report that stoodout to you that perhaps might be,
you know, long term vision andnot immediate action. I like the
fact the talk of the other groupsthat we worked with last year that we
(17:10):
then historically work with the other NGOs, the other government agencies, A lot
of people were action and groups thatI we've never worked with before, so
that that increases our knowledge, thatincreases our capacity to do things better in
the future. So that was thatwas good. We continue those talks as
well with these with those different groups. Firefighters are an expense until there's a
(17:33):
fire. There're a liability on aon a spreadsheet. Do you have enough
resource? Do you have enough people? I think so, yes, we
do. We we can draw fromother agencies we have to, but we
do for for the majority of ourfires, we're well well well taken care
of for that. Yes, anythingelse that we can add to this conversation,
Jim okay, if I can makea plug for fire prevention, that
(17:56):
would be the biggest thing. Themajority of our fires started by people.
It's everybody's responsibility to help these firesnever start. So if you go to
have an open fire during the fireseason, you must check our burn restrictions
daily and you must follow them.And if you do decide to light a
fire and make sure that you havea way to put it out, make
sure that your way to have away to call for helps. Would you
(18:17):
need to call for help? Soit's really it really falls to the public
to help everybody. It's everyone's responsibility. We need people to help and start
understanding that that that is real.So I know there was a charge late
in the Barrington fire, the BarringtonLake fire, not so in tan Talent.
Is their adequate enforcement is all theare all the pieces in place for
(18:38):
people who don't respect the rules tobe held to account. They are yes
and then and we have to followthe rules of the law as well and
go through those steps in those motionswhich we which we do. So how
do you get tired of answering thesame questions? But there's there's value in
this. So Jim Rutterhamp thank youfor this. Well, thank you,
(18:59):
Sheldon, appreciate your time. Thishas been Thinking out Loud presented to you
by Saltwire. I'm Sheldon McLeod.Thanks for listen. M
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