Residents embrace in front of a fire-ravaged property after the Palisades Fire swept through in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, on Jan. 8.Etienne Laurent/The Associated Press
What struck her most was the scale of destruction.
Karley Desrosiers, an information officer with the BC Wildfire Service (BCWS), has seen her share of bad wildfires. Her own province recorded its most destructive wildfire season less than two years ago, which scorched hundreds of homes and sent tens of thousands of people fleeing.
Yet touring the Palisades fire in Los Angeles County, Calif., this week, Ms. Desrosiers was left speechless.
“It’s a scale I’ve never witnessed,” she said in an interview from Malibu. “I think to do this job, the key is compartmentalizing so that I can focus on my task at hand. But when I do take a step back and take it all in, it’s overwhelming.
“It’s been really hard to see the level of destruction and know how many people have been so horrifically impacted. It’s going to take a very, very long time for this community to recover.”
Ms. Desrosiers was part of a team of 12 technical experts with the BCWS that flew into Los Angeles last Saturday, requested by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) for their senior-level expertise as crews battle numerous wildfires.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Los Angeles-area fires had burned more than 165 square kilometres and 12,300 structures. At least 24 people have died.
In addition to the BCWS’s technical team, Canada has also sent resources including 40 wildland firefighters from Alberta and four CL-415 water bombers from Quebec. Mexico has also sent firefighting resources, as have states including Texas, Arizona and Oregon.
A second BCWS crew comprising 22 firefighters from across B.C. was expected to arrive in Bakersfield, Calif., on Thursday and to be on its first fire line Friday.
Ms. Desrosiers said one of the biggest differences at the Los Angeles operation, compared with home, is its sheer size.
“There are currently just over 5,000 personnel working on the Palisades wildfire, whereas in B.C., a large incident might have around 500 personnel,” she said, noting that the U.S. Forest Service, the Los Angeles Fire Department and Los Angeles County Fire Department are all involved.
“It has been really enlightening for us to see all of the positions, and all of the people, that are supporting an operation of this magnitude.”
The BCWS and Cal Fire have had a long-standing partnership, sharing fire-suppression crews and resources for many years. Both operate under the Incident Command System, which means both services have the same reporting structure and members can quickly identify who is responsible for what.
However, there are some differences. For example, Cal Fire responds to both structural and wildland fires, whereas the BCWS responds to wildland fires on Crown land and provides support to local fire departments and jurisdictions as needed. As well, while the BCWS’s focus is primarily on wildfire suppression and prevention, with structural damage assessments the responsibility of regional districts, Cal Fire plays a role in post-fire recovery.
In recent years, the BCWS worked closely with Cal Fire to adopt its wildfire predictive technology, now being used in the Coastal and Kamloops fire centres.
At the Los Angeles fires, the BCWS and Cal Fire have for the first time integrated incident management teams – those in charge of command, operations, planning and logistics. It lays the groundwork for an even more collaborative partnership between the two agencies in anticipation of longer, more taxing wildfire seasons.
“Integration with Cal Fire gives us a unique opportunity for real-time learning, development and collaboration, while harnessing knowledge and experience from diverse perspectives,” Ms. Desrosiers said.
“The goal is to have a similar exchange in British Columbia, where we have Cal Fire staff come in and observe and integrate into our operations.”
Zaib Shaikh, consul-general of Canada in Los Angeles, advised Canadians wanting to travel to California to do their homework. While Los Angeles International Airport remains operational, the Canadian government’s U.S. travel advisory notes that the Los Angeles-area fires may continue to spread, and there is a high risk of additional fires.
“If you were planning on coming to Los Angeles proper, I would delay your plans,” Mr. Shaikh said. “I would seek travel advice and look at weather and firefighting reports, because we’re still very much in the danger zone.”