2025 Wildfire Season

[foresterab]

Chopper crunch... no serious casualties, thankfully

No fatalities after 'forced landing' of BC Wildfire Service helicopter near new wildfire south of Pemberton

Authorities are asking residents to stay away from the Airport Road area to keep it clear for first responders.

www.piquenewsmagazine.com

Found out about this one post deployment. Glad to hear no fatalities...hope the injuries - both physical and mental - are light.

Been head down focused on different fires and while it's rare to happen...it does happen. Thankfully both increased aircraft performance (Eurocopter AS-350 B3's are so much nicer than Bell 206's) and more attention to pilot training has hopefully reduced risks. Initial attack is always tricky as you're trying to land in area pre-pad construction.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

"Here's hoping the fire won't result in more flood washouts like 2021...

The initial decision to go modified response seemed goofy to me.

 

[Cloud Cover]

The initial decision to go modified response seemed goofy to me.

“ What BCWS doing”…

 

[foresterab]

“ What BCWS doing”…

The initial decision to go modified response seemed goofy to me.

I haven't had to fight fire in that particular area...so not going to armchair guess exact rationale. I have been on other fires in BC where the slope and unstable rock made it too dangerous to put men on the line in that particular area so could be a reason. Mountain fires are so completely different from boreal forest fires a person has to re-evaluate a lot of tactics...just the slope and topographic influences on winds create big differences. Nice thing about fighting fires in Canada...people take priorities over trees.

Ideally they get some nice gentle soaker rains but no downpours that would lead to floods. Just know BC Wildfire is running flat out (which is not unusual for them this time of year) and hoping it's a safe tail end of season for their staff.