Latest news with #controlledburns
CBC
6 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Reeve of Man. community at risk from wildfires lauds fire prevention donation
Social Sharing A rural municipality in southeast Manitoba that's frequently at risk from wildfires has received funding for a community-led initiative to conduct controlled burns aimed at fire prevention. Tuesday's announcement of a $116,000 grant from insurance company Intact Financial to pay for equipment and volunteer training to conduct prescribed burns will have a lasting impact on Stuartburn, about 100 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, Reeve Michelle Gawronsky said. "The brush has continued to grow and die off every year, and there's been nothing to clean it up," Gawronsky said. "We certainly don't want to have our community at risk again." The grant from Intact is the largest of its kind for Manitoba and will assist with the operation of Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association, which is made up of concerned local residents. They just want to keep the community safe, Gawronsky said. "They care about the farms and the lands around us, and wildlife, and people's homes, and people's lives." "It breaks my heart to know that people are suffering so badly," she said. "Now we have a proactive way with local citizens in the province of Manitoba to be able to move this [initiative] forward." The reeve told her own story of the devastating fire that forced the Stuartburn community of Vita to evacuate in 2012. "I got a call from my son ... saying: 'Mom, what do you want from the house?' And I said: 'What do you mean?' "And he said: 'There's a fire coming, we're not going to save the town.'" "And when you're sitting 400 kilometres away and you're trying to think of what's most important in your home, that feeling was devastating to me." A snowstorm followed the fire the next day and helped firefighters snuff it out before homes were destroyed. A bridge, vehicles and farmland suffered the most damage. Still, the experience stayed with Gawronsky. The Stuartburn funding is part of Intact's Municipal Climate Resiliency Grants program, which is slated to donate $3.1 million to 19 communities across Canada. Stuartburn plans to hold a meeting for people to learn more about the initiative at its community centre on Sept. 18.
CBC
10 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Reeve of Man. community at risk from wildfires lauds funding donation for prevention
A southeast Manitoba rural municipality frequently at risk from wildfires has received funding for a community-led initiative to conduct controlled burns aimed at stopping fires in their tracks. RM of Stuartburn Reeve Michelle Gawronsky said Tuesday's announcement of a $116,000 grant from Intact Financial to pay for equipment and volunteer training to conduct prescribed burns will have a lasting impact. "The brush has continued to grow and die off every year, and there's been nothing to clean it up," said Gawronsky. "We were very quick to put a burn-ban on, especially seeing what other municipalities were having to live through. Like I say, we've been there, done that, and we certainly don't want to have our community at risk again," she said. The grant from Intact is a first of its kind for Manitoba and will assist with the operation of Stuartburn Prescribed Burn Association, which is made up of concerned local residents. They just want to keep the community safe, said Gawronsky. "Because they care about the farms and the lands around us, and wildlife, and people's homes, and people's lives," said Gawronsky. Intact is giving out $3.1 million to 19 communities across Canada through its Municipal Climate Resiliency Grants program. Stuartburn administrators invited officials from Intact, provincial politicians, neighbouring mayors and reeves and people from the community to an official announcement of the funding on Tuesday afternoon.
ABC News
a day ago
- General
- ABC News
Waste in NT bush hampers controlled burns for rangers, firefighters
Volunteer firefighters and Indigenous rangers in the Northern Territory say an unprecedented and "shocking" amount of illegally dumped fridges, couches, mattresses and tyres in the bush is complicating controlled burns. While dumped waste has always been a problem, the workers say it has reached a new level in the Top End regional centre of Katherine. Mr Slater's team has been responsible for hazard reduction burning on blocks of vacant Crown land. "Our goal is to get a good, clear burn in this burning we do in town," he said. The team spends hours on each burning day identifying rubbish in the bush and wetting it down, or building fire breaks around it. Tyres emit columns of toxic black smoke when they catch and can burn for a long time. "It's bad for the nature as well. We need to look after country [and] country will look after you." Rod Usher, captain of the Katherine Volunteer Bushfire Brigade, said there was a "shocking amount of rubbish in the scrub", especially to the south of Katherine towards the Indigenous community of Binjari. "In the last few years, it's escalated hugely. Markedly. It's getting to be a problem," Mr Usher said. "We're trying to control fires and you come across gas cylinders, fridges, freezers — tyres are a big one." Mr Usher said accidentally burnt mattresses were hard to spot in the bush and their internal wires became "the best vehicle traps". "Getting a … mattress out from under your vehicle once it's all curled up and rolled around under the tailshaft and everything is not fun," he said. While most residential rubbish is free to take to the tip in Katherine, items like couches, tyres and mattresses do come with individual charges. Mr Usher said it was no coincidence these were also the items showing up in the bush. "I understand why the dumps are charging and everything, but that's why people are dumping," Mr Usher said. Regular passenger vehicle tyres are $35.10 each at the Katherine tip, so 26 tyres would cost $912.60 to dump. Internet archives show the council was only charging $12 each for passenger tyres in 2020-21, or about $15 in today's money. Katherine's outgoing Mayor Lis Clarke said the council's tip fees were reasonable and were constrained by limited recycling capabilities in the town. Local government elections are being held across most of the NT later this month.
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
These drones drop burning balls in the forest to control wildfires
On July Fourth, amid a cacophony of fireworks and flame-throwing propane grills, a seemingly ordinary lightning strike hit somewhere in Grand Canyon National Park. The resulting spark ignited surrounding dry vegetation, and strong winds quickly spread the flames for miles. Over the course of several weeks, that initial spark has grown into a blaze engulfing more than 100,000 acres, officially classifying it as a 'megafire' and the largest wildfire of 2025…so far. As of this writing, 'The Dragon Bravo Fire' has already destroyed 70 buildings, including the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. The Dragon Bravo Fire continues to burn on the North Rim of the Grand has currently scorched over 55,000 acres. — CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) July 28, 2025 It's impossible to completely prevent wildfires like this one, but one of the most effective mitigation strategies is also one of the oldest. For centuries, firefighters around the world have used controlled burns, sometimes called a prescribed fire, to preemptively remove leaves, dead branches, and other dry materials that can serve as combustible fuel in the path of raging wildfires. Removing that fuel, the idea goes, should help prevent a wildfire from getting even larger and more dangerous. Increasingly though, these controlled burns aren't being initiated by people on the ground or from piloted aircraft overhead, but by small quadcopter drones carrying hundreds of ping pong ball-sized 'Dragon Eggs.' These combustible eggs ignite small, trackable and contained fires when they are released. Drone Amplified, a Nebraska-based startup, pioneered this system, which it calls 'IGNIS' in 2017 with input from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. Now, eight years later, Drone Amplified's Vice President of Business Development Dan Justa tells Popular Science that the company's drones are currently operating more than 200 systems in at least 30 US states, as well as Canada, Germany, and Australia. 'This [system] allows you to cover a tremendous amount of ground and get eyes on fire for situational awareness during wildfires,' Justa said. 'It also allows you to fly at night.' Moving from recon to intervention Firefighters have been using drones in some capacity for well over a decade. Around 2011, state and federal agencies began deploying drones equipped with cameras to capture photos and videos—either for early surveillance or to assess damage after a wildfire. From the beginning, small, unmanned drones were viewed as more affordable alternatives to helicopters for wildlife monitoring and real-time data collection. Their compact size also lets them access areas that may be unreachable by larger, piloted aircraft. The Western Fire Chiefs Association estimates that around 200 fire departments across the U.S. were using drones by 2018. That number tripled within just two years. Drone Amplified represents a more recent shift toward using those drones for active wildfire mitigation, moving a step beyond basic surveillance and documentation. Drone companies focused on disaster response also gained momentum following the passage of a bipartisan 2019 bill that encouraged greater drone use by federal agencies in wildfire management operations. 'One of our North Stars is doing cool stuff with drones that actually impacts the world rather than just images,' Justa said. 'A lot of drones are just flying cameras or sensors.' Fighting fire with fire Drone Amplified's IGNIS system, which gestated from research done by a pair of professors at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, consists of four main subsystems. According to Justa, the drone itself is a heavily modified version of the American-made Freefly Systems Alta X model. Attached is a large hopper that holds up to 450 (or around 13 pounds) of the 'Dragon Egg' balls. These small plastic spheres are filled with potassium permanganate. During a controlled burn, each ball is dropped into a separate puncture mechanism where it's injected with ethylene glycol, a compound commonly found in antifreeze. The resulting chemical reaction produces a steady, relatively cool, and controlled flame. #Ignis in action. — Drone Amplified (@DroneAmplified) February 6, 2020 Once pierced, the Dragon Eggs take about 30 to 45 seconds to ignite, during which time they are launched from the drone toward their pre-programmed targets. This process can be repeated up to 120 times per minute until the hopper is empty. Firefighters can adjust the number of eggs dropped depending on the desired intensity of the burn. Each payload is also programmed to release the incendiary balls only within a specific geographic area. Firefighters control the drone using a companion app. The drone is equipped with thermal cameras, allowing operators to see targets clearly even in smoky conditions and to monitor the progress of prescribed burns once they begin. According to Justa, the drone, its accompanying software, and the necessary training combined cost approximately $100,000. That sounds like a lot of money, but it's often a more affordable option than deploying a helicopter with a full crew of firefighters. It's also notably safer. Drones aren't affected by smoke inhalation or the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, allowing them to operate in more hazardous environments. There's the added benefit too that crashing a drone, while pricey, isn't life threatening. The CDC estimates around 25 percent of all firefighting fatalities are related to aviation. 'It's extremely dangerous to fly helicopters over wildfires because you have thermals, you have smoke, you can't see anything,' Justa said. 'The drones you can put up anywhere.' All of this gives firefighters equipped with drones greater capacity and flexibility to carry out prescribed burns, tools that can make a significant difference. A 2024 study published in the Forest Ecology and Management found that prescribed burning, when combined with tree thinning, reduced wildfire severity by more than 60 percent compared to areas that did not receive similar treatment. Making sure Dragon Eggs are used for good But there's also the concern of ensuring that a drone capable of starting a wildfire does so only in the place it's supposed to. To that end, Justa says the company has designed its system with safety and mitigation tools built in from the ground up. While pilots are free to navigate the drone as needed, the hopper will only dispense the Dragon Eggs within a predetermined, geofenced area—the designated controlled burn zone. Sensors onboard can detect if the drone or its payload sustain damage. If that happens, the system automatically disables the dropper mechanism and triggers a small, low-temperature fire designed to safely burn out. And as for the risk of hackers gaining access to the device and using it to wreak havoc, Justa says the drones mitigate risk by using radio-based encryption. He also points out that anyone intent on starting a forest fire almost certainly has easier methods available to them. Buying a pack of cigarettes at a gas station is far cheaper and simpler than hacking a drone. Though its most notable impacts so far have been in wildfire management, Drone Amplified's object-dropping mechanism isn't limited to dispensing Dragon Eggs. Last month, the company partnered with the American Bird Conservancy to drop dozens of biodegradable, lab-grown mosquito pods over Hawaiian forests in an effort to curb the area's invasive mosquito population, which poses a serious threat to some native bird species. Justa told Popular Science that the company is also working with the Alaska Department of Transportation to deploy controlled explosive charges for triggering managed avalanches.
CBC
17-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Volunteer crews from across Sask. flock to Beauval to fight fires
Volunteer firefighters from across Saskatchewan have been working in Beauval and other communities in the province's north to help save them from ongoing wildfires. Volunteer crews and equipment from Humboldt, Davidson and Warman, alongside a host of other communities, have been helping with controlled burns, patrolling for spot fires and setting up sprinkler systems in the village, which is about 350 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon and is under a full evacuation order. "You immediately just thought, 'they need help,'" said Corey Dean, the chief of the fire department in the south-central Saskatchewan town of Davidson. "We have the training and we have the resources, we have extra equipment. We have a large enough department. It was a decision that we made upon ourselves." Dean was in Beauval from July 2 to July 13 fighting fires. He and his crew helped save every house in the community as the fires edged up against the town, he said. "It's literally hell on earth when the fire comes into town. There's no other way to describe it," he said. "It quickly turned from daylight to nighttime as smoke covered the sun. It got really dark, really smoky, and really hot." It was "easily the most intense and humbling experience of my life as a firefighter," said Dean. His Beauval deployment was his second this season, having spent six days in Weyakwin — about 150 kilometres southeast of Beauval — setting up a controlled burn earlier in the summer to protect the Ramsey Bay Resort. His team, all of whom have other full-time careers, are now taking a breather, he said. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency has been spearheading the effort to recruit local firefighters, putting out a call through the Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs to help co-ordinate resources. Mike Kwasnica, the president of the fire chiefs' association, said local fire crews, who have more experience with structure fires, are being called in to let provincial fire crews focus on wildland firefighting. "This season has been extraordinarily busy like we've never seen before," said Kwasnica, who is also the chief of the Humboldt Fire Department. "To do a provincial call-out like this is very rare." 'That's what we do' Kwasnica sent two of his firefighters to Beauval to complement another department that could only send a fire truck. Earlier this summer, he also did a 12-day deployment fighting fires in Weyakwin and La Ronge, to the north. Like Dean's crews, Kwasnica's firefighters also have other full-time jobs, which he said makes co-ordination difficult. "I think a lot of the municipality fire departments are starting to get tired and worn out," he said. "It's just a matter of trying to co-ordinate peoples' holidays, their time off work, because … all these firefighters that we have that are going up all have other jobs." They face long, hot and uncomfortable days, he said. "But we're hoping that it makes a difference. And I know that in the past, and I'll speak for Humboldt, that when we needed help from the province, everybody came to our assistance," said Kwasnica. "For us, that's what we do." The Saskatchewan government has also had help from crews and the use of equipment from other provinces for weeks. Last week, two airplanes and 100 wildfire personnel came from Quebec, and 40 firefighters came from Australia. The public safety agency said another 40 firefighters from Mexico will be arriving in the next few days. Steve Roberts, the agency's vice-president of operations, said Wednesday he didn't have an exact number for how many fire departments currently have resources and crew members in Beauval, but that his agency is ready to co-ordinate more support. "Should they need more or need replacement, those will be addressed through our normal process for getting more resources to those scenes," he said. When asked about the growing numbers of international crews coming into the province, Roberts disputed the argument that the province isn't putting enough resources into local crews. "We have actually trained thousands of local community members to assist us," he said. Training and awareness programs are well underway, but "the training is not the barrier," he said. "It's getting individuals to come forward, identify themselves and be hired to assist in the efforts." The safety agency said as of Wednesday night, there were 48 active wildfires in the province, 10 of which are not contained. So far this year, there have been 372 fires in the province, well above the five-year average of 273 for this date.
