A helicopter drops water on the fire in Rose Valley, West Kelowna, British Columbia. Smoke from Okanagan wildfires spreads out across the evening sky. Kyle Young of 100 Mile House takes a break from fighting fires, that ripped through the region and temporarily displaced approximately 11, 000 people in the Okanagan. Firefighters battle remaining spot fires in West Kelowna, British Columbia. Premier Gordon Campbell and Doug Findlater, the mayor of West Kelowna, speak to reporters about the wildfire situation. Salvation Army outreach coordinator Kevin Mack helped distribute water and food to those displaced by wildfires in West Kelowna. A family of wildfire refugees returns to their home in Glenrosa, West Kelowna. One of the residents displaced by the wildfires in the Okanagan returns home.  

 

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Okanagan Wildfires

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Okanagan Wildfires

In 2009, wildfires in the tinder-dry Okanagan forced approximately 11,000 residents to evacuate

their homes.  For British Columbians, 2009 marked one of the worst fire seasons on record, with

more than 100 significant fires.

In their report, “Review of the 2009 Fire Season” by the B. C. Ministry of Forests and Range, it

states: “The 2009 fire season was one of the worst in B.C.’s history”, with 3,049 fires around the

province – 138% above average.

In August of 2009, the Washington Examiner reported that climate change, together with the spread

of the mountain pine beetle, are twin plagues consuming northern forests.  The paper quotes Mike

Flannigan, a fire researcher for the Canadian Forest Service, as saying that despite increased fire

fighting capacity, the area burned in Canada by forest fires has doubled since the 1970s.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has cited a number of studies that link an

increase in forest fire frequency with human-induced climate change.

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