There's not much of a summer holiday for Richmond firefighters on the front lines as extended sunny and dry weather represents a higher risk of fires in the urban forest areas of Lulu Island.
The current fire risk rating, graded by Metro Vancouver, on Richmond's trails and Nature Park sits at "high" right now. It needs to hit "extreme" before closure takes place.
Tim Wilkinson, Richmond Fire Rescue's deputy chief of operations, said when there is a good run of sunshine it can force the closure of some local trails, mainly the Shell Road Trail, a narrow strip of underbrush and trees stretching from Alderbridge Way to Williams Road.
Plus, Richmond Nature Park, on the northern end of the trail, is included when assessments are done to determine the fire risk of urban forested areas.
Wilkinson said the aim is to err on the side of caution when deciding to close trails or the nature park - a process done with input from fire-rescue, Metro Vancouver and the City of Richmond's parks department.
"The reason for that is the difficulty we have accessing the trails to fight those fires," Wilkinson said.
Impeded access to water and the type of the soil along the trail are other concerns.
"It's mostly peat," Wilkinson said, "and the fire can go underground into the peat once its burned off the material on the surface. Once that happens, it's very difficult to put out from the surface. You really have to wait for the water table to rise to be confident it's out."
It can take several days of rain for the ground to become saturated once again to snuff out the smouldering peat fire.
As for limiting the causes of trail fires, it's not just pedestrians and cyclists using the routes that have to be cautious.
The rail line running parallel to the Shell Road Trail can be a source of ignition.
"It can be from a dragging brake on a train car that sends sparks into the underbrush which can set small fires along the length of the trail," Wilkinson said.
Thankfully, incidents are few and far between.
"I think in the past 20 years or so we've had maybe two trail fires," Wilkinson said.
Much more frequent are small spot fires along parched, grass or shrub-lined road medians. Most of the time they are caused by errant cigarettes tossed from passing traffic.
"We answer hundreds of those types of calls during the summer - about two to three a day," Wilkinson said. "They are usually five or six feet in diameter, but each one has to be addressed before they spread, and that puts a severe stress on our resources."
Stressed as well at this time of year are firefighters who have to battle blazes - big and small - clad in heavy, fire protective clothing and breathing apparatus.
"Not only do our firefighters have to deal with the heat from the fires, there's the addition of the ambient temperature," Wilkinson said, adding rotational strategies are employed to counter the elements.
"We have to cycle the crews with one fighting the fire, one cooling off, and one ready to go back," he said.
And prior to answering the call, fire crews are instructed to be aware of pre-hydrating - drinking plenty of water before going on shift.
"That's important because it's pretty hard to disengage when you're on the front line fighting a fire to get a drink of water," Wilkinson said.
