Fire operations in action - PEACe RIVER FOREST AREA

By Jen Beverly
May 2019 was a very active spring fire season for the province of Alberta and we were fortunate to observe fire suppression and response operations first-hand in the Peace River Forest Area. I traveled to the area with Ilbin Lee from the Alberta School of Business. Ilbin and I are collaborating on a new research project to explore dispatch decisions and how they affect fire management objectives. We were also joined by Andrew Stack, one of my graduate students, who is working with initial attack crews in the area to pilot test rapid fuel assessment techniques.

Tom Patreau, the area Wildfire Operations Officer, introduced us to the Duty Room, where we observed daily routines, sat-in on briefings, and watched the dispatching and response process unfold in front of us when a new fire was discovered. We learned about the information products and technology used to support planning and dispatching decisions and got to speak with fire management staff about their roles and the challenges they face.

We also traveled by helicopter to the site of an active large-fire suppression operation. On May 22, the day we flew the fire (PWF-052), it was an estimated at 18,000 ha in size and considered a potential threat to the nearby town of Manning. Since then, the fire has grown to over 54,000 ha and at the time of writing, was still listed as "out-of-control."

During our field tour, we had a chance to meet with the fire's Incident Commander, Rick Moore, and spent some time learning about the information systems and tools used for large fire management from Ryan Good, the Planning Section Chief.

Our visit to the fire command centre along with the helicopter flight of the fire gave us an excellent perspective on the scale of large fire operations and the resources involved, and for me, it also brought back many fond memories of my time as a helitack crew leader in Ontario. But what impressed me the most about this experience was just how friendly, professional and helpful everyone was. We learned a lot thanks to the willingness of Alberta Wildfire staff to share their insights and tell us what they know. I'm convinced that these kinds of field visits are essential for guiding fire researchers to ensure we are asking the right questions and considering the real-world context that fire managers deal with so effectively everyday. Thanks to everyone who made our visit so worthwhile - we'll be back!