Reporting Forest Fires

British Columbia has over 95 million hectares of forests, or approximately one million square kilometres. There can be over 2,000 forest fires throughout the province in an average year. Lightning accounts for approximately half of these fires and the other half is due to human activities.

The Forest Service has many ways to locate and detect fires, including lightning locators, air patrols and lookout towers, but nearly one third of all fires are detected and reported by the general public. Every fire season in British Columbia the toll-free number for reporting forest fires (1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on most cellular networks) is displayed on road signs, on Ministry of Forests trucks and throughout the media. Wildfire reports to this number have resulted in immeasurable savings in property damage, forest resources and fire suppression dollars.

What will happen if you see a fire that appears to be unattended, and call to report it? The more information you have and the better you can answer the following types of questions, the easier it is for the Fire Centres and fire crews to locate and action the fire.

1. An agent at the Provincial Forest Fire Reporting Centre (PFFRC) at Protection headquarters in Victoria will answer your call.

2. The agent will ask for your phone number, and enter it into an Initial Phone Report form that is part of the computerized Dispatch System. The telephone exchange plots crosshairs on a map of the province and moves to the caller's location. This automatically tells the agent which of the six Fire Centres will take responsibility for fire response:

• Coastal (including Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and Central Coast Regions)
• Kamloops (including the Kamloops, Okanagan, and Merritt Regions)
• Southeast (including Kootenay, Boundary, and Columbia Regions)
• Prince George (including the areas North and East of Prince George)
• Cariboo (including Williams Lake, the Cariboo, and Chilcoltin Regions)
• Northwest (including Smithers, Terrace, and locations further north)

3. The agent will take your name and ask if you are able to remain near your telephone for the next 20 minutes in the event the Fire Centre requires more information.

4. You will then be asked the exact location of the fire. If possible use geographic place names (creeks, mountains, etc). This assists the PFFRC agent in plotting the fire on the specialized electronic map. If you are unfamiliar with the area, compass references (north, south, east and west) when describing which way you are looking or traveling are useful. Your description of the location should include how the fire can be accessed. This is especially important if there does not appear to be any roads near the fire.

5. The agent now gathers details about the fire and its behaviour:

• Fuel: What is the fire burning? Trees, grass, brush, other, unknown, etc.
• Fire Size: How big is the fire? The size of a campfire, a house, a football field, bigger, unknown, etc.
• Fire Spread: How fast is the fire spreading? Fast, slow, or unknown.
• Is anyone fighting the fire? Neighbors, passersby, fire department, forest industry personnel, etc.
• Smoke: What color is the smoke? Black, grey, white, brown, blue, or unknown. Is it going straight up?
• Are there any values or lives threatened? Homes, buildings, campgrounds, structures, etc.

6. Once the Initial Phone Report is complete, it is saved in the Dispatch system and an electronic signal sounds in the Fire Centre that will now respond to the fire. The Fire Centre acknowledges the signal, automatically notifying Victoria that the Fire Centre has received the report, and a hard copy of the Initial Phone Report is automatically printed.

7. A dispatcher in the Fire Centre determines which Fire Zone the Initial Phone Report is located in, informs the Centre Fire Control Officer (CFCO), and contacts that Fire Zone's Forest Protection Officer (FPO). Fire fighting resources are now chosen, e.g. ground crews and/or air tankers, and dispatched to the fire.

8. The provincial air tanker bases communicate with Fire Centres via the same computerized Dispatch system so that air tanker requests, acknowledgements, and responses are immediate. Only a few minutes pass from the time the Initial Fire Report is completed until crews are dispatched to the fire.

Helpful Hints

• What highway are/were you on?
• What was the last town you were in, and how long have you been driving since?
• Is the fire on a hill or mountain? How far up?
• Is there road access to the fire and do you know the road names?
• Common names of lakes, mountains, creeks and so on are repeated all over the province. Can you provide a nearby city or town as a reference point?
• Can you see any major landmarks such as cut blocks, roads, power lines?
• Can you see any open flame?
• Is the smoke coming from a treed or grassy area?
• Smoke colour provides the following information for firefighters:
  • Fuel type and moisture content
  • Fire intensity

Every piece of information you provide helps Fire Control Officers allocate fire-fighting resources efficiently. Your help is greatly appreciated, enabling us to do our jobs better.

If you see a Forest Fire, please report it to us at 1-800-663-5555 or call *5555 toll free on most cellular networks.

Further information on wildfires, provincial danger ratings and forest restrictions can be obtained by calling our toll-free Wildfire Information number 1-888-3-FOREST (1-888-336-7378).