BC 2003 Forest Fire Public Inquiry Edited!!

[JaydeDahlbeck]

i live in kelowna, that fire was hell .

and ever since then we have fires every summer you can literally count on the fires happening .

[RealThermoguy]

@JaydeDahlbeck I just did a presentation last weekend showing images from that fire. 2003 was hell for the whole area being smoked in. Lots of fires happening every year now with all the wild weather extremes. We are running out of forest close to Kelowna.

[JaydeDahlbeck]

@RealThermoguy ahah i still see the mountains covered in living forest, but yeah i know what you mean, every summer the west side is covered in fires it really sucks >.< and its ruining our air quality .

[RealThermoguy]

@JaydeDahlbeck The west side has building problems contributing to air quality indoors. Keep the exterior of your home shaded or painted colors that reflect solar radiation or they will be radiated. Building code just can't see the temperature so be careful what you buy or build. Solar radiated buildings contribute to fire severity.

Beautiful sunny day today in Kelowna and I am off to image buildings heating the atmosphere in the winter.

[JaydeDahlbeck]

@RealThermoguy yeeah it was pretty nice out ealier, noow its kinda gloomy :/

and what exactly do you do ??

[RealThermoguy]

@JaydeDahlbeck We do very special temperature work using infrared imaging so professionals can see heat. You saw the imaging during the forest fires where fire fighters couldn't see through the smoke in Kelowna?

Today I was taking infrared images of buildings exposed to the sun and see if they are creating heat in the winter. You can see in some of the infrared building videos here on youtube building are getting sunburned.

[RadiumRobert]

Little known fact - the NEW BC GOV'T of the day had just laid off thousands of trained FF that year (including me). Many of us volunteered for free to fight these fires and were refused (15 years experience! at wildland firefighting).

I used to live in Kelowna and wanted to help, but my services were deemed "not useful"

Signed, didn't vote Gordon Campbell

[RealThermoguy]

@RadiumRobert

I heard exactly that from the Forest Ministry that Campbell laid everyone off and then brought back some management. They were overwhelmed and screwed up royally at huge costs to all of us. It was the premier's office specifically that edited this out of a public inquiry.

[earthtocolin]

You make yourself out to be some sort of hero... You think your the only one with a shitty flir camera? I'm pretty sure the fire fighters know where the fire is, your stupid little camera wouldnt make a lick of difference when it came to actually fighting the fire. Quit trying to sell your product.

[RealThermoguy]

Not a hero, I am a first responder and it is my job.

Flir is a brand name and I am not the only one with a camera. I am the only one that trains fire departments and academia.

Watch the video, fire fighters saw nothing, they couldn't see through the smoke and they used their infrared gear behind the fire to look for hotspots.

I give professionals and industry the ability to see their objectives so they can save lives, economy, forests and fish, this has nothing to do with me.

[shantrues]

It would have been very frightening to be able to watch the fire the whole time. Especially watching the homes burn behind the smoke wall

[RealThermoguy]

It was one of the worst times of my life being able to see what I did and praying the firefighters were being shown the same information. All I wanted to do was give them the same visual you saw so they could get their job done safely.

When the wind started to blow and the buildings were burning, we were above subdivisions yelling at people to get out.

Makes me crazy to know our police and fire on the ground don't have basic sight through the smoke full time. Thank god no one got killed.

[jsmetalbashers]

The BC Forest Service has been using FLIR technology for at least 15 years now. Its mounted in the nose of their Birddog aircraft. Nice try, are you looking for a job?

[RealThermoguy]

Equipment and applying it are 2 separate areas of expertise. Just because you work for Boeing doesn't mean you know how to fly a plane.

Why don't they employ it in the rest of the aircraft or on the ground? Why did forestry issue press releases about being blind by the smoke in 2003, Flir not working? Why was the public fire inquiry edited?

I have a job lecturing infrared applications in education, standards, fire, medical and national security, what about you?

[jsmetalbashers]

Oh, so you are looking for a job. BCFS would be a good gig eh? Nice juicy contract. BCFS in highly respected in fire suppression, they know what they're doing.

[RealThermoguy]

Sorry, we don't look for good gigs or juicy contracts. Public service is about service before self and our interest is getting the job done so BCFS can do their job better.

In 2003, they were blind and the infrared maps they put out today for the public looks like a drawing. The BC Government hindered BCFS today by editing the fire inquiry of 2003 and making recommendations based on an edited document.

[napabavarian]

Infared equipment is standard in forestry, even my local volunteer department has a couple, they laughed because they already had the tool in their truck.

[RealThermoguy]

Infrared equipment is standard in forestry and has been used in a very limited capacity. Typically IR is used behind the fire looking for hot spots when there is much more available to forestry.

The BC Government used IR on the Okanagan Park Fire after the fact. The fire fighters in front of the fire were blind.