Fire Management Organization

In 1994, the B.C. Forest Service was restructured to maximize its effectiveness. Most importantly, fire crews were taken out of administrative centres and put where they are most needed. The province is divided into six fire centres: Coastal, North West, Prince George, South East, Kamloops, and Cariboo. Each fire centre is in turn made up of fire zones. This is a Region/District map, so there are some differences, primarily in zone boundaries. The biggest difference is the Queen Charlotte Islands are part of the Vancouver (Coastal) Region as shown on this map, but part of the North West Fire Centre.

Click on the map on each of the Fire Centres for more information about them.

The provincial Fire Control Centre in Victoria is responsible for the co-ordination and movement of provincial resources throughout the province. In conjunction with the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) in Winnipeg, the provincial fire control centre exchanges resources with other provinces, agencies, and the US.

FIRE PREPAREDNESS BUDGET This funding maintains the ministry's fire fighting resources in a state of readiness to control and suppress wildfires. This budget includes infrastructure, staff salaries, fire fighter training, computer-systems maintenance, long-term contracted aircraft, and maintenance of tanker bases, heliports and fire camps. It also allows staff to enforce the Forest Fire Prevention Regulations, liase with local fire departments, promote wildfire safety to communities and reintroduce prescribed fires in certain ecosystems. The preparedness budget is generally approximately $50 million.

DIRECT FIRE BUDGET This budget includes all direct costs associated with fighting and extinguishing wildfires. Costs include travel for fire fighters, overtime wages, emergency fire fighter wages, equipment purchases/rentals, air patrols and fire retardant drops. For the 2004/05 fiscal year, $55.4 million is allocated from the Treasury Board for direct costs. The Protection Program receives whatever additional financial resources are necessary to suppress fires in a cost-effective manner.

EXPENDITURES As it is difficult to predict the summer weather, it is also difficult to predict the severity of the fire season and what areas of the province will have the greatest activity.

On a daily basis, staff estimate the total cost of fire expenditures to date on a Wildfire Situation Report (SITREP). These estimates represent the direct costs of wildfire suppression over the past 24 hours. They are estimates which provide the ministry executive with fire suppression expenditure information and are used to support the fire suppression program.

If we over-expend our budget, we still continue to fight fires. Government recognizes that forest fires must be extinguished. Section 10 of the Forest Act gives the B.C. Forest Service legislative authority to access a special account (consolidated general revenue), so that we still have funds to continue to extinguish wildfires.