[MacLellans Brook, NS]—The battle against one of man's oldest foes – fire – has gone high-tech for the (Nova Scotia) Department of Natural Resources.
The local DNR office in MacLellans Brook installed an automated weather monitoring station back in April that is being used to gauge the forest fire index locally.
Allan Blinn, DNR area supervisor, said the index is generated automatically.
"The information is transmitted to the Shubenacadie fire control centre. We get very accurate weather forecasts with the weather station."
Blinn said a computer program generates the forest fire index based on numerous factors such as the weather and the moisture content in ground cover and in the soil itself.
"The calculations are done through that.… It's quite scientific nowadays."
The weather station measures numerous parameters including temperature, precipitation, wind direction and wind speed among others. It takes weather readings every five minutes. The station was installed here in April and cost in the neighbourhood of $17,000.
A look at the provincial forest fire index map shows two areas of the province with high ratings: most of Pictou County and part of northeastern Cape Breton.
The rest of the province is rated as moderate.
The index is updated daily in the early afternoon.
The most recent forest fire in the county consumed about 1/10th of an acre – a spot fire in DNR lingo – in the East River St. Mary's area on June 23. Blinn said it was started by lightning.
Speaking of lightning, he said the storm cell that passed through the area on Sunday afternoon might spawn fires over the next couple of days.
"We don't expect any today," Blinn said on Monday (July 19). "The next couple of days we might get something depending on the rain we're supposed to get."
Blinn said a lot of times lightning strikes in remote areas are not observed and a tree that is struck could have smouldering roots that do not generate a fire for a period of days until a breeze helps generate and spread embers. That's in the case of lightning strikes accompanied by rain, he said dry lighting strikes could cause a fire immediately.
According to a DNR press release, in 2009, 193 fires burned 892 hectares of Nova Scotia's forests and wildlands. The main cause was residential fires and arson was the second leading cause.
Precautions essential to prevent forest fires
If Allan Blinn could say one thing to the public regarding forest fire safety it would boil down to this: be careful.
"Keep your burning to a minimum, burning permits are required. We educated people while we're talking to them. When travelling in the woods – no smoking. If you are camping in the woods be careful with fire."
Blinn, the area supervisor for the DNR in the county, said there aren't any bans on open fires in the province.
"Not at the moment," he said. "The bans are based on what the weather is, the hazards and what the forecasts are."
Bans are discussed and implemented in conjunction with the provincial fire control centre in Shubenacadie. They might apply to the entire province or just certain regions.
"They go area by area," Blinn said.
The New Glasgow Daily News
