+Superb ass Hell, in Oregon, we're getting similar things.. About a month ago we got a bad fire and Portland got smoke so bad.. Smelt awful and the sky was red.. Literally... So.. It wasn't a fun couple days.
That's part of the reason why natives burned forests every ten years or so. That and to remove the canopy in order to allow for smaller plants like berry bushes to grow. We're fighting fires but we shouldn't. In , fact, we should burn forests on purpose. That would make subsequent fires less destructive. The more you fight it, the harder it gets to fight it, because every year you're saving more fuel for next year's fire to burn. Forest fires are natural, and good for the forests.
You should still put out the natural and accidental ones at a moments notice. Only controlled fires should be set off which is limited in its fuel and can be oppressed with ease. I come from Australia which is well known for its flammable environment and I can agree that lowering vegetation in a selected area does out way an out of control fire. But you should never leave an open flame unattended whether its naturally occurring or not!
+Johnny Silverstone Yeah its like the whole world knows who you are now. Youre like a superstar. Everywhere you go people will be like arent your backyard in a youtube video? Its crazy.
+crudesicle ... not our provincial or federal governments, thats for sure. Firefighter for over twenty years here in BC. Was there in Kelowna in 2003 and Lil'wat or Lillooet if you like in 2009 when they evacuated the town for fear of it burning. When people stopped working the bush properly is when all this fire crap started happening...
I live here in B.C. I can't go outside most days and not see rampant chemtrailing in progress. For anyone who cares to look I suggest you go to "Weather Modification Incorporated" website and find the client page. Clearly states that B.C. Hydro and B.C. Forestry are and have been clients since 2004. Thinking that a decades worth of spraying aluminum, barium, strontium and other nano-particulates has no cause/effect on forest fires in this province is a madness.
I'm glad this got covered. The fires were so bad this year, and some of the employees were fighting the fires that were happening around there homes. Very sad.
+J Berg Because the PM was also blamed for this out-of-control fire. Seriously, the conservative supporters need to wake up and face the truth rather than defending their ideology.
Lol why is it always that the first people to comment on Vice videos are conservative trolls. There aren't that many of them, but the ones who do it are consistent and obsessed. Really kind of fascinating.
+SCHIZOPHRENlC It is surprisingly working too. Scary. Should be illegal. We aren't talking birth control we're talking fate of planet Earth. Absolute cookie cutter Rush Limbaugh believers.
Re: the comments on this video... How are people so willing and able to accept wild conspiracy theories and way-out-there end-of-the-world predictions with crappy evidence, and then refuse to accept the one thing for which we have ample evidence, which could *actually* result in catastrophe?
Because most people are really stupid. We're not supposed to say that because as we all know everyone is a special individual who can achieve anything... In reality most of the people watching this video are coated in cheeto dust, tabbed out of several open porn sites and running late for the start of their shift at a generic minimum wage job.
+Sure LOL, I saw some of your comments. I like you, you seem to be a very Informed person and I respect that and furthermore I like how to talk down to idiots who will inevitably die of old age in there dead parents basement.
The evidence is NOT crappy. Just because mainstream media outlets don't report it doesn't mean there's no evidence. Even a few mainstream journalists are now reporting on this. ruclips.net/video/ysm19Kf84m8/видео.html
+Johnny Utah I live 40 kilometers from the nearest wildfire in BC, this summer I woke up to ash completely covering my car every morning for a week, and you're gonna tell me its a lie.
Hey thanks for doing something on BC, I am not a tree huger nor do I really like watching things like this. But this was really well put together kept me informed without putting me to sleep. THANKS!
A lot of people don't realize the fact that one reason we are having such intense fire seasons is due to fire suppression itself. The more fuel we allow to build up on the forest floor the easier these fires start and the more intense they become.
Why Doesn't Bc and other parts of Canada carry out burn off? Here in Australia we do burn offs around this time of the year leading up to summer (3 months). prevents a lot of large fires near the Citys
+Justin McDonald We should be. For the longest time we just tried to prevent forest fires which just causes a larger problem with more fuel. People don't understand forest fires are natural and neccessary for trees to grow.
Because a lot of forests and lands are protected by the federal & provincial government (i.e the great bear rainforest) Not to mention theres too high of a chance for the fires to get out of control.
+Pavleshka 2015 was the earth's hottest summer on record and for some reason "persistent `contrails`", that only "happen when the temperature is close to or below -40*, in which case the cloud freezes almost instantaneously and does not readily evaporate", were sporadically and frequently visible all summer...
sure "Harper literally destroyed Canada" I have heard an assload of that nonsense... but dont worry- saint Suzuki will save you, I mean look at all the things he has done to help the evacuees, like donating some of his government gotten millions , offering up rooms in one of his 3 mansions , lending one of his fleet of Jeep Cherokees... OH wait, none of that happened
Too true. My peeps are Ottawa-people. The ones with money hated Harper, the ones without thought he was god and all his industry loving, and social cutbacks were saving money. Of course every dime he saved will cost $10 in the near future, as the bill for damages climbs through the clouds. The Fat Donnie Wannabe that just took over Ontario, dissolved the EV incentives and immediately incurred a multi-million dollar lawsuit from Tesla, which they will lose and have to pay. Un-f'xxxxng-believable. Now those cash incentives go straight to the manufacturer, rather than to Ontario citizens who would like to buy an EV. Look for suits from Nissan, BMW, Chevrolet, the whole gang. Governments are not going to fix anything. To mitigate this, all petroleum investment has to be slowed to nothing, in the next few months, and all the cars and trucks have to be taken off the roads in the next year. What will you drive? How will the economy function? Should have asked yourselves that question ten years ago. Stop building Camaros and start building Leaf's. The whole country must move to an all electric economy as fast as it can with an effort that would make WWII look like a picnic. Governments will very quickly not, be able to pay for the damage of wind, rain and fire-storms. For the skeptics who think my diatribe is reactionist BS, simply watch the insurance companies. Call one and ask them what it now costs to insure a house for fire, in BC's hinterland. Or any hinterland. Ditto for floods. Hurricanes you haven't felt yet, but this year or next, the Atlantic hurricanes will start to penetrate further north, crossing into Canada (tail end for now) soon. Know this fact: Each year gets worse, forever. If you're ten years old now, you won't see 25.
Hippy(Bboomer) You have no idea what you are talking about as far as medicinal marijuana. It must be hard to live on such a high horse. It's interesting how in your mind the only way is the conservative way. There will always be conflict if you do not allow a difference of opinion and there will always be conflict if you acuse the other party of stupidity simply because they don't see the world through your old wrinkly eyes.
@Hippy(Bboomer) And you do? You have all the answers eh? It's funny how a liberal in your view is either an educated teacher or a simple stoner. I do take the compliment, though Iam no teacher but Iam an educated liberal. The so called "enemy within". What you fail to see is the world isn't as black and white as you think. Once you stop pointing fingers and shouting your tits off life gets better.
@Hippy(Bboomer) I don't need to tell you anything. And I'm sure as hell not telling you that your opinions don't matter. You don't need to be a liberal to have a heart, just human. One day you will see just how meaningless political borders are. Or maybe you won't
Just a quick question: Is it possible that the fires are not getting worse because of global warming, but actually because of overgrowth? In the Western US, rangers used to put out fires all the time throughout the 20th century. This allowed overgrowth to grow and then cause huge fires that are uncontrollable.
It all Harpers fault? Really? Because the Prime Minister of Canada makes all the decisions. Under no circumstances do I like Harper, but this has NOTHING to do with him. This is about Mother Nature and humanity.
During the peak wildfire season, hundreds of new fires were being reported every day, and the province struggled to get both the human and financial resources to keep up. VICE heads to BC to look at how the wildfires have affected the fragile BC ecosystem… *WATCH NEXT*: _Trawling Winnipeg's Rivers for the Bodies of Unsolved Murder Cases_ - bit.ly/1LmA8Zy
Saint Suzukis pontificating. people see through his activism. Its all about him making money while pushing his " you are to blame for global warming - so give me more money " heap of bullshit. wildfires much larger than this happened multiple times for centuries in what is now B.C. Everyone is getting sick of this climate change alarmist propaganda- the emporer has no clothes
Jason Bishop mabye thats true, mabye it's not, it doesn't change the fact that right here right now in BC there are a fuck ton of fires, most of them caused by recent lightening storms , and it's pretty shit to live around all this smoke when you have asthma. The air index is at 7 in my area which is considered high risk
Its amazing how many people are unwilling/unable to see the connection between human accelerated climate change and increased global fire intensity. Just to clarify the nonsensical banter on here, both arguments are right. It is climate change AND forest mismanagement. I have planted over 600,000 trees as well as thinned and spaced, and my family operates a 650ha woodlot. What I find frustrating is the Ministry Of Forests has know for decades that controlled burns and more thinning of juvenile stands is necessary for many reasons, but for the most part they have failed to implement these practices in much of the province. It's important we glean wisdom from these experiences. This cannot be the 'new normal' as the media keeps repeating, and its beyond naive to think we could even survive if we were to accept that, because this year was worse than last year, which was worse than the year before, therefore the new normal would insinuate it continually getting worse every year. I think a lot of people were close to their breaking point this year and it didn't start until August. Imagine if the smoke started in June and lasted 3 months instead of 3 weeks? It's very probably in fact more likely than unlikely. What's more is that the Earth is actually in a brief cooling phase which has just ended. Meteorologists and Climate scientists are saying that we are now entering a period that will see abnormally warm global temperatures, so unless we do something on the management side I have a hard time believing it wont continue to get worse. Fire suppression is the band aid, management heals the wound, lifestyle changes can heal the body. We absolutely must look at the problem this way. Reverse engineer the question and you see the more bandaids we put on we can think the body is healthy even when its not. All 3 have their place in the tool kit required to even attempt to fix this mess we're in. Living more practical lives is an example to our children that we are trying and we care about their future, and also an example for them to take into their lives as they grow. Do you think your kids will remember you for your gas guzzling Range Rover, or that you did your best to give them, and the rest of life on this planet, a future with clean air? If you really need a status symbol, buy a Tesla. Remember, the Earth gives us every single thing we have. Everything. There is nothing more important and definitely not the economy. When the planets natural regulators are disrupted, everything from manufacturing to global food production and resources will be greatly stressed. The economic losses will be unfathomable and permanently getting worse as food crops decline. The cost of prevention in hindsight will look like a drop in the bucket, much like getting your alignment fixed or not, and crashing full speed into a wall. Let's all work together, Im sure almost the majority of us want the same thing in the end. There are only 4 choices. science right, do something, science right do nothing, science wrong do something, science wrong do nothing. We now have A.I. and supercomputers working out these simulations, and it has become clear the science is right. So while some may disagree, there are now only 2 choices. We hold the future in the palm of our hands, its that real. We have to wake up from our catatonic slumber and act on the 'theories' that have turned to fact, not in a century or even a decade, but right in front of our very eyes, every year getting hotter,drier and smokier. Taking action on a personal level will at the very least give us and our children hope.
It's weird this is from 2015 and 2 years later British Columbia wildfires have made Washington's air quality drop...we are almost worse than Hong Kong, those fires need to be put out!
The coast is very humid but the interior of British Columbia, such as Oliver which is shown in this video, is actually quite dry. It's just an extension of the drier interior plains of Washington and Oregon, the only difference being that BC is almost completely forested. Many people forget that fire is a natural component of the environment, and that many species of these trees need it in order to open their seeds, and create an open landscape for new growth and rejuvenation.
Then that could be reasons to let many of the wildfires in B.C. burn naturally. Especially if we are talking about sparsely populated or unpopulated regions.
It seems like it could be a lot cheaper to let forest fires naturally burn themselves out. Nature never seemed to need human "help" to manage its forest fires.
I'm nit-picking here, but the footage shown @ 15:08 is not India, but Pakistan. A channel like Vice News are not supposed to make such silly mistakes. Dents your credibility.
+trippinghard Not exactly nitpicking, showing Pakistan as India would offend a whole lot of people from both of those countries. They shouldn't be making mistakes like that. Don't feel bad for mentioning it- you are right
I remember when I went to bed one night it was calm and clear. Next morning I woke up and it was so smokey and a bit windy. I had to take the kids to school, the minute we walked outside you could smell the burning even though we lived no where near a fire. Thankfully we are right across the street from the school and the teachers were letting kids inside before the bell rang.
I am a bc resident as well living in a very affected place in the province no one realizes how none of the fires other states would call large don't get any media attention here.
It just keeps getting worse and worse which sucks cause Vancouver used to be a place that experienced all 4 seasons properly now it’s just hot hot hot....even winters...
This Canadian lives in southern California. I'm watching the twin engined prop planes dropping water and/or retardant. Down here we have an emerging mini-airforce for that sort of thing, there are a lot of unused commercial planes about. I think I saw a 747 converted for that, but if it wasn't, it was a 737 or some other airliner. We've lost quite a few fire fighters, you start to think about that and realize, the risk these people are taking. They're incinerated. The fires move faster than they can run. One truck had 7 corpses in it. Another single firefighter was caught in a Firenado. A furnace at 2300 degrees F. Whole neighbourhoods are utterly untouched except for two or three random houses that "caught" some embers, which burn to the ground. Like a WWII air raid. We're at about 200 ft. above sea level, in the low desert, (Palm Springs) where it's as hot as Death Valley. Consequently, there isn't much fuel in our neighborhoods on the desert/valley floor. Two years ago we watched a fire as long as the mountain we were looking at, from our backyard. It burned from 8500 ft down to 4000 ft and quit, what a show. What do we do about it? You can do a lot to your house to prevent embers from lighting it up, so we have a two year plan to redesign the exterior. I've just finished installing a 5.1 kwh solar PV system with large battery backup that can charge our Electric car afternoons, straight from the sun and battery combination. We stopped burning gas in 2012 with our first Chevy Spark EV lease. On a spreadsheet, these changes over time reduce our costs dramatically, for power and transportation. Forget Global Warming, I do it because it's cheaper, and I'm Scottish. We now lease a Fiat 500e for $121/month. No maintenance, no fuel, just tires and wiper blades. It's the cheapest car I've ever had to operate, and it's brand new (2017) and marvellous to drive. But you live in Canada so you can't do any of that. So everyone thinks.
BC resident here that works in the forestry industry and typically votes conservative. This is a pretty good analysis of the situation and most recent fire season. Next summer will likely be bad as well as El Nino weather pattern this winter typically gives us a lot of rain and not much snow at lower elevations. Not sure what all the downvotes are about, weird.
It's interesting to hear them talk about how 2003 was a bad fire season because in california that was a terrible year as well, up until last year it was actually the worst fire year we'd had in decades.
Let it burn its self out like it’s supposed to for thousands of years, do not build near the woods if you do not take care of the land by removing the dead fuel (layers of dead stuff under the green,) making sure that 4 inch holes 4 feet down do shoot water bobs into them by passing that ash that will not let water through.
My dad's fighting 'the big one' and we FINALLY got to get a call from him last night. He says the prediction is all the fires will merge... I'm terrified for my dad, I know they are being cautious and safe but seeing everything? only hearing from him every once in a while? It's hard. I'm hoping for the best and praying for all the firefighters. I am not normally a fan of Vice but just to make it clear how bad the fires are... its bad. They aren't wrong there.
For 3 days in a row, in a recent July, we had bright orange skies in Vancouver BC. Cloudless skies. Bright orange! The light from forest fires change the sky. Next summer : smoke was the theme. Joggers were recommended to stay indoors, basically don't go out. In summer. The best time for outdoor fun. Vancouver is safe from Tsunami, protected by the Mountains on Vancouver Island, and thus sheltered from hurricanes. But fires, with all that fuel (forest), fire is a very real and increasing danger.
3 years later in BC it has gotten worse, this is 2018. Well, this year, not as much forest burned but a lot of them are infrastructure fires now, affecting a lot of communities and settlements. The smoke in the province is bad, but now has blown off. We need rain bad as of August!
People are not realizing that this is from 2015 not 2017/2018. I live in williams lake, where one of the worst 2017 bc fire took place. We got evacuated for almost 2 months.
To anyone that’s arguing this and doubting what the video is saying. Just because you don’t like what you hear and what this reporter is trying to shed light on, DOES NOT MEAN ITS WRONG! These people he’s interviewing aren’t just internet trolling self taught researchers that get their information from the internet. They are people that have dedicated their lives to studying it and getting certifications to prove they know what the hell theyre talking about. This is a serious issue! Yes they’re talking a lot about climate change, no they’re not saying fires are only caused by climate change, there are many different factors. Climate change is so real! I’m a university student working as a bear guide in the Toba Inlet where there are two huge fires burning. This video is important on so many levels. This is the first summer I’ve seen in 20 years that had a terrible thunderstorm and lighting storm that caused 12 new forest fires on North Vancouver Island ALONE. That has NEVER happened before. Even the lighting is getting more intense. Why? Because everything is getting hotter. The world could be on fire and you STILL wouldn’t say it’s climate change. Ffs
I live in the region, and choked on smoke for over 45+ days.... people saying this is "normal" and not a result of climate change and environmental destruction need to STFU. Experience this first hand and not from some apartment in a city.
With B.C. as full of mountain ranges like it is one would think that near the bases of those mountains cisterns could be blasted out to catch the meltwater for use in drought conditions and fire fighting.
Thank you for putting up the video! I live in BC and my life was affected! The smoke gave my $90000 BMW a check engine light for ONE and HALF days ! utter madness. unacceptable.
Southern interior resident. Fires all around and smokey. Neighboring towns evacuated to our area. Volunteered at the center and see the people stressed out. Watching the news everyday to see if its near us. You really start to think about climate change when this sort of thing is happening. I think it may be time for change.
I'm a snowboarder and this sux I want snow not rain is pain I want some crazy snow this year up in Oregon looking for 150in of snowfall I want that 300cm base
I just got back from visiting my family in BC and the fires were so bad that one night outside I could only see about 15 feet in front of me and it was so yellow it was as if I were wearing yellow tinted sun glasses
its kinda sad seeing the young guy huffing and puffing just from walking up a hill. I'm glad to see my home getting to national and global attention it needs.
Yet in the 60-70s there was worse air pollution and yet people were worried that the earth was getting too cold. Global warming first became a big deal when the global tempurature was determined without factoring in SIBERIA, aka freeze your ass off land.
Oh and im all for reducing the population.....oh wait you would rather not do that? Then what would tou like people to do? Buy back their carbon footprints? WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!!! (Totally not a scam at all)
in Oliver, the average summer temperature has been raised from 35 C to 45 C in less than 3 years. It's obvious that global warming is a thing. I'm afraid that this summer might be too hot to even go outside
Chem trails are a legitimate concern out here in the west. They are spraying metal particles into the air every day when the air conditions/wind speeds are right. The metal particles capture moisture and carry it inland via the Jetstream. It works much like how aluminum in your deodorant is used as a antiperspirant. This effectively steals our rain here in the northwest and distributes it to inland area's affected by drought. They get water and we get burned, literally. I dont understand why so many people plug their ears or close their eyes to the questionable things our govt/large corporations are doing. Its like people dont want to know the truth, that they are happy in their apartments/cubicles, living like a hamster.
I live in BC, we were affected. I saw it first hand. Thanks for putting us in the limelight!
+Superb ass agreed. I remember one night this summer getting ripped on blow and looking up to just see fire on the hillside
+Superb ass Hell, in Oregon, we're getting similar things.. About a month ago we got a bad fire and Portland got smoke so bad.. Smelt awful and the sky was red.. Literally... So.. It wasn't a fun couple days.
Phillip Unrau
what the fuck are you on?
im literally screaming
That's part of the reason why natives burned forests every ten years or so. That and to remove the canopy in order to allow for smaller plants like berry bushes to grow. We're fighting fires but we shouldn't. In , fact, we should burn forests on purpose. That would make subsequent fires less destructive. The more you fight it, the harder it gets to fight it, because every year you're saving more fuel for next year's fire to burn. Forest fires are natural, and good for the forests.
You should still put out the natural and accidental ones at a moments notice. Only controlled fires should be set off which is limited in its fuel and can be oppressed with ease. I come from Australia which is well known for its flammable environment and I can agree that lowering vegetation in a selected area does out way an out of control fire. But you should never leave an open flame unattended whether its naturally occurring or not!
IT'S THE BEST THIS FOR THE SOILE.
Wow, this is crazy. Never thought I'd see my own back yard on Vice o.O
+Johnny Silverstone I know, I feel ya man
+Johnny Silverstone Yeah its like the whole world knows who you are now. Youre like a superstar. Everywhere you go people will be like arent your backyard in a youtube video? Its crazy.
+Johnny Silverstone umm your backyard has alreayd been on vice
Mikey Really? When?
goggle vice canada canabis
Thank fuck SOMEBODY is addressing this.
+marshall leng Are you trolling?
***** The forest fires really sucked bad mate.
***** You aren't missing anything.
+crudesicle + fruitcake
+crudesicle ... not our provincial or federal governments, thats for sure. Firefighter for over twenty years here in BC. Was there in Kelowna in 2003 and Lil'wat or Lillooet if you like in 2009 when they evacuated the town for fear of it burning. When people stopped working the bush properly is when all this fire crap started happening...
We are still burning as we speak. 2018 has been our worst year yet.
2017 was worse. Far more evacuations and structures loss.
2019 is now the worst year
loucious22 agree...scary
2019 to 2020 was terrible i was working while I had 73 fires already going in the area I was in and the next day there was 14 more fire going on
We live here and have seen stark changes, VICE is to be thanked for this report.
"here in BC we are known for our wet climate" is something that someone who never leaves Vancouver says...
I live here in B.C. I can't go outside most days and not see rampant chemtrailing in progress. For anyone who cares to look I suggest you go to "Weather Modification Incorporated" website and find the client page. Clearly states that B.C. Hydro and B.C. Forestry are and have been clients since 2004. Thinking that a decades worth of spraying aluminum, barium, strontium and other nano-particulates has no cause/effect on forest fires in this province is a madness.
+Vengeant1 dude, cloud seeding has nothing to do with your "chem trails".
I'm glad this got covered. The fires were so bad this year, and some of the employees were fighting the fires that were happening around there homes. Very sad.
I am too confused how are people disagreeing and thumbs downing this?
+J Berg Because the PM was also blamed for this out-of-control fire. Seriously, the conservative supporters need to wake up and face the truth rather than defending their ideology.
Unfortunately there are those few who do... I never understood why thumbs down on videos that matter
Because none of these videos ever talk about stuff like geoengineering.
Lol why is it always that the first people to comment on Vice videos are conservative trolls. There aren't that many of them, but the ones who do it are consistent and obsessed. Really kind of fascinating.
+Sam LSD Fuck conservatives
They are paid to sway public opinion (attempt...) online through shill accounts. You'll find them on Vice and TYT videos most.
+SCHIZOPHRENlC Your username is fitting.
+SCHIZOPHRENlC It is surprisingly working too. Scary. Should be illegal. We aren't talking birth control we're talking fate of planet Earth. Absolute cookie cutter Rush Limbaugh believers.
OnThe23rd Yes, here on the Internet, this is what you call a username, or alias. Shocking, right?
David Suzuki never ceases to amaze me, that was such a powerful monologue. We need more people like him!
No we don’t need anymore like David Suzuki
@@itiswhatitis4018 we sure dont
The lady in the middle of this video explains the situation so articulately
I hate it when my igloo melts from a forest fire
Re: the comments on this video... How are people so willing and able to accept wild conspiracy theories and way-out-there end-of-the-world predictions with crappy evidence, and then refuse to accept the one thing for which we have ample evidence, which could *actually* result in catastrophe?
Because most people are really stupid.
We're not supposed to say that because as we all know everyone is a special individual who can achieve anything... In reality most of the people watching this video are coated in cheeto dust, tabbed out of several open porn sites and running late for the start of their shift at a generic minimum wage job.
+Sure LOL, I saw some of your comments. I like you, you seem to be a very Informed person and I respect that and furthermore I like how to talk down to idiots who will inevitably die of old age in there dead parents basement.
+Brenden Schneider To add on to what I said. They'll probably die while watching Rush Limbaugh die of stupidity.
The evidence is NOT crappy. Just because mainstream media outlets don't report it doesn't mean there's no evidence. Even a few mainstream journalists are now reporting on this. ruclips.net/video/ysm19Kf84m8/видео.html
WHAT IS WITH ALL THIS HATE?
I live here in bc
they are pretty much right...
not hating and not bias
+Johnny Utah I live 40 kilometers from the nearest wildfire in BC, this summer I woke up to ash completely covering my car every morning for a week, and you're gonna tell me its a lie.
+HangOn2seconds same yo
+HangOn2seconds ... conservatives and Climate change deniers ironicaly starting a "Flame war"
+HangOn2seconds
that accent
Finally Oliver gets some recognition. I thought this town never would.
Hey thanks for doing something on BC, I am not a tree huger nor do I really like watching things like this. But this was really well put together kept me informed without putting me to sleep. THANKS!
Tinder inc well said
A lot of people don't realize the fact that one reason we are having such intense fire seasons is due to fire suppression itself. The more fuel we allow to build up on the forest floor the easier these fires start and the more intense they become.
Why Doesn't Bc and other parts of Canada carry out burn off? Here in Australia we do burn offs around this time of the year leading up to summer (3 months). prevents a lot of large fires near the Citys
+Justin McDonald We should be. For the longest time we just tried to prevent forest fires which just causes a larger problem with more fuel.
People don't understand forest fires are natural and neccessary for trees to grow.
cities.
Because a lot of forests and lands are protected by the federal & provincial government (i.e the great bear rainforest) Not to mention theres too high of a chance for the fires to get out of control.
Why don't people ask about the chemtrails being sprayed all over Vancouver? You think maybe that's doing something to the atmosphere, VICE?
No shit, Chemtrails are real climate change is Bullshit !
+SuperGogetem no theyre not.... contrailscience.com/
+Pavleshka 2015 was the earth's hottest summer on record and for some reason "persistent `contrails`", that only "happen when the temperature is close to or below -40*, in which case the cloud freezes almost instantaneously and does not readily evaporate", were sporadically and frequently visible all summer...
+SuperGogetem I...uhh...are you guys for real?
tonyfalca
have you ever been in an airplane during the summer? its still very cold up there...this is like science 101...
Living in BC, this really shocked us this year, and we had so many cutbacks from the Harper government that we were not prepared for this
sure "Harper literally destroyed Canada" I have heard an assload of that nonsense... but dont worry- saint Suzuki will save you, I mean look at all the things he has done to help the evacuees, like donating some of his government gotten millions , offering up rooms in one of his 3 mansions , lending one of his fleet of Jeep Cherokees... OH wait, none of that happened
Too true. My peeps are Ottawa-people. The ones with money hated Harper, the ones without thought he was god and all his industry loving, and social cutbacks were saving money. Of course every dime he saved will cost $10 in the near future, as the bill for damages climbs through the clouds. The Fat Donnie Wannabe that just took over Ontario, dissolved the EV incentives and immediately incurred a multi-million dollar lawsuit from Tesla, which they will lose and have to pay. Un-f'xxxxng-believable. Now those cash incentives go straight to the manufacturer, rather than to Ontario citizens who would like to buy an EV. Look for suits from Nissan, BMW, Chevrolet, the whole gang. Governments are not going to fix anything.
To mitigate this, all petroleum investment has to be slowed to nothing, in the next few months, and all the cars and trucks have to be taken off the roads in the next year. What will you drive? How will the economy function? Should have asked yourselves that question ten years ago. Stop building Camaros and start building Leaf's. The whole country must move to an all electric economy as fast as it can with an effort that would make WWII look like a picnic.
Governments will very quickly not, be able to pay for the damage of wind, rain and fire-storms.
For the skeptics who think my diatribe is reactionist BS, simply watch the insurance companies. Call one and ask them what it now costs to insure a house for fire, in BC's hinterland. Or any hinterland. Ditto for floods. Hurricanes you haven't felt yet, but this year or next, the Atlantic hurricanes will start to penetrate further north, crossing into Canada (tail end for now) soon. Know this fact: Each year gets worse, forever. If you're ten years old now, you won't see 25.
Hippy(Bboomer) You have no idea what you are talking about as far as medicinal marijuana. It must be hard to live on such a high horse. It's interesting how in your mind the only way is the conservative way. There will always be conflict if you do not allow a difference of opinion and there will always be conflict if you acuse the other party of stupidity simply because they don't see the world through your old wrinkly eyes.
@Hippy(Bboomer) And you do? You have all the answers eh? It's funny how a liberal in your view is either an educated teacher or a simple stoner. I do take the compliment, though Iam no teacher but Iam an educated liberal. The so called "enemy within". What you fail to see is the world isn't as black and white as you think. Once you stop pointing fingers and shouting your tits off life gets better.
@Hippy(Bboomer) I don't need to tell you anything. And I'm sure as hell not telling you that your opinions don't matter. You don't need to be a liberal to have a heart, just human. One day you will see just how meaningless political borders are. Or maybe you won't
Just a quick question: Is it possible that the fires are not getting worse because of global warming, but actually because of overgrowth? In the Western US, rangers used to put out fires all the time throughout the 20th century. This allowed overgrowth to grow and then cause huge fires that are uncontrollable.
It is definitely a variable. Here in Australia we set off controlled fires to lower fuel for one to get out of control.
Really, really hoping we vote that dictator, anti-Canadian image, out of power.
How is he a dictator?
+Stephan Wood
Because the talking face said so.
+SnowSet you people are a cult...
It all Harpers fault? Really? Because the Prime Minister of Canada makes all the decisions. Under no circumstances do I like Harper, but this has NOTHING to do with him. This is about Mother Nature and humanity.
SnowSet we did harper , the cons do not even think climate change is real , morons can not protect the people
Fires weren't put out in those forests 200 years ago. What do you think would just happen if they let the trees burn?
Nature would handle it okay. But we should look into preparations for wildfire season, and building more firesafe homes.
Vancouver is so beautiful
I love vancouver and BC as a whole, it will always be my true home
During the peak wildfire season, hundreds of new fires were being reported every day, and the province struggled to get both the human and financial resources to keep up. VICE heads to BC to look at how the wildfires have affected the fragile BC ecosystem…
*WATCH NEXT*: _Trawling Winnipeg's Rivers for the Bodies of Unsolved Murder Cases_ - bit.ly/1LmA8Zy
+VICE why are some of you videos unavalibaleih
Great reporting and thanks for all the free entertainment:)
As a BC resident I don't understand what all the dislikes are for
Saint Suzukis pontificating. people see through his activism. Its all about him making money while pushing his " you are to blame for global warming - so give me more money " heap of bullshit. wildfires much larger than this happened multiple times for centuries in what is now B.C. Everyone is getting sick of this climate change alarmist propaganda- the emporer has no clothes
Start looking up geoengineering. We're not told the whole story--not by a long shot.
Jason Bishop mabye thats true, mabye it's not, it doesn't change the fact that right here right now in BC there are a fuck ton of fires, most of them caused by recent lightening storms , and it's pretty shit to live around all this smoke when you have asthma. The air index is at 7 in my area which is considered high risk
Its amazing how many people are unwilling/unable to see the connection between human accelerated climate change and increased global fire intensity. Just to clarify the nonsensical banter on here, both arguments are right. It is climate change AND forest mismanagement. I have planted over 600,000 trees as well as thinned and spaced, and my family operates a 650ha woodlot. What I find frustrating is the Ministry Of Forests has know for decades that controlled burns and more thinning of juvenile stands is necessary for many reasons, but for the most part they have failed to implement these practices in much of the province. It's important we glean wisdom from these experiences. This cannot be the 'new normal' as the media keeps repeating, and its beyond naive to think we could even survive if we were to accept that, because this year was worse than last year, which was worse than the year before, therefore the new normal would insinuate it continually getting worse every year. I think a lot of people were close to their breaking point this year and it didn't start until August. Imagine if the smoke started in June and lasted 3 months instead of 3 weeks? It's very probably in fact more likely than unlikely. What's more is that the Earth is actually in a brief cooling phase which has just ended. Meteorologists and Climate scientists are saying that we are now entering a period that will see abnormally warm global temperatures, so unless we do something on the management side I have a hard time believing it wont continue to get worse. Fire suppression is the band aid, management heals the wound, lifestyle changes can heal the body. We absolutely must look at the problem this way. Reverse engineer the question and you see the more bandaids we put on we can think the body is healthy even when its not. All 3 have their place in the tool kit required to even attempt to fix this mess we're in. Living more practical lives is an example to our children that we are trying and we care about their future, and also an example for them to take into their lives as they grow. Do you think your kids will remember you for your gas guzzling Range Rover, or that you did your best to give them, and the rest of life on this planet, a future with clean air? If you really need a status symbol, buy a Tesla. Remember, the Earth gives us every single thing we have. Everything. There is nothing more important and definitely not the economy. When the planets natural regulators are disrupted, everything from manufacturing to global food production and resources will be greatly stressed. The economic losses will be unfathomable and permanently getting worse as food crops decline. The cost of prevention in hindsight will look like a drop in the bucket, much like getting your alignment fixed or not, and crashing full speed into a wall. Let's all work together, Im sure almost the majority of us want the same thing in the end. There are only 4 choices. science right, do something, science right do nothing, science wrong do something, science wrong do nothing. We now have A.I. and supercomputers working out these simulations, and it has become clear the science is right. So while some may disagree, there are now only 2 choices. We hold the future in the palm of our hands, its that real. We have to wake up from our catatonic slumber and act on the 'theories' that have turned to fact, not in a century or even a decade, but right in front of our very eyes, every year getting hotter,drier and smokier. Taking action on a personal level will at the very least give us and our children hope.
Excellent video, big support for the hard working men and women of the B.C. Wildfire Service
"we're the problem, we're the crisis, we've got to pull back"
It's weird this is from 2015 and 2 years later British Columbia wildfires have made Washington's air quality drop...we are almost worse than Hong Kong, those fires need to be put out!
Why do the wildfires need to be put out? Not so easily done, I suppose you knew?
Even worse now, BC’s in a state of emergency
The coast is very humid but the interior of British Columbia, such as Oliver which is shown in this video, is actually quite dry. It's just an extension of the drier interior plains of Washington and Oregon, the only difference being that BC is almost completely forested. Many people forget that fire is a natural component of the environment, and that many species of these trees need it in order to open their seeds, and create an open landscape for new growth and rejuvenation.
Then that could be reasons to let many of the wildfires in B.C. burn naturally. Especially if we are talking about sparsely populated or unpopulated regions.
The chemical spraying in BC IS OFF THE CHARTS/
NWO mad-scientist evil agenda.
Chem-trails can not be up to any good. Mad-scientists out of control.
Damn. One of the best reports I've seen from vice. Keep it up!
i hope you guys are back doing another one this year
Vice is the best, every issue is fairly covered without bias.
this is why we need to let nature take its course instead of interfere with it
It seems like it could be a lot cheaper to let forest fires naturally burn themselves out. Nature never seemed to need human "help" to manage its forest fires.
I work in Vancity and I live in Surrey, feeling it fam. Our poor province :(
I'm nit-picking here, but the footage shown @ 15:08 is not India, but Pakistan. A channel like Vice News are not supposed to make such silly mistakes. Dents your credibility.
+trippinghard Not exactly nitpicking, showing Pakistan as India would offend a whole lot of people from both of those countries. They shouldn't be making mistakes like that. Don't feel bad for mentioning it- you are right
Why look at all the burning trees when sticking your head in the sand is so much more comforting?
I remember when I went to bed one night it was calm and clear. Next morning I woke up and it was so smokey and a bit windy. I had to take the kids to school, the minute we walked outside you could smell the burning even though we lived no where near a fire. Thankfully we are right across the street from the school and the teachers were letting kids inside before the bell rang.
I am a bc resident as well living in a very affected place in the province no one realizes how none of the fires other states would call large don't get any media attention here.
there was literally a fire right next to my house yesterday ( I live in west Vancouver)
Wildfires are a natural occurrance and serve important ecosystem functions.
It just keeps getting worse and worse which sucks cause Vancouver used to be a place that experienced all 4 seasons properly now it’s just hot hot hot....even winters...
This Canadian lives in southern California. I'm watching the twin engined prop planes dropping water and/or retardant. Down here we have an emerging mini-airforce for that sort of thing, there are a lot of unused commercial planes about. I think I saw a 747 converted for that, but if it wasn't, it was a 737 or some other airliner. We've lost quite a few fire fighters, you start to think about that and realize, the risk these people are taking. They're incinerated. The fires move faster than they can run. One truck had 7 corpses in it. Another single firefighter was caught in a Firenado. A furnace at 2300 degrees F. Whole neighbourhoods are utterly untouched except for two or three random houses that "caught" some embers, which burn to the ground. Like a WWII air raid.
We're at about 200 ft. above sea level, in the low desert, (Palm Springs) where it's as hot as Death Valley. Consequently, there isn't much fuel in our neighborhoods on the desert/valley floor. Two years ago we watched a fire as long as the mountain we were looking at, from our backyard. It burned from 8500 ft down to 4000 ft and quit, what a show. What do we do about it?
You can do a lot to your house to prevent embers from lighting it up, so we have a two year plan to redesign the exterior. I've just finished installing a 5.1 kwh solar PV system with large battery backup that can charge our Electric car afternoons, straight from the sun and battery combination. We stopped burning gas in 2012 with our first Chevy Spark EV lease. On a spreadsheet, these changes over time reduce our costs dramatically, for power and transportation. Forget Global Warming, I do it because it's cheaper, and I'm Scottish. We now lease a Fiat 500e for $121/month. No maintenance, no fuel, just tires and wiper blades. It's the cheapest car I've ever had to operate, and it's brand new (2017) and marvellous to drive.
But you live in Canada so you can't do any of that. So everyone thinks.
BC resident here that works in the forestry industry and typically votes conservative. This is a pretty good analysis of the situation and most recent fire season. Next summer will likely be bad as well as El Nino weather pattern this winter typically gives us a lot of rain and not much snow at lower elevations.
Not sure what all the downvotes are about, weird.
Wow. I've never seen David that pissed off before
It's interesting to hear them talk about how 2003 was a bad fire season because in california that was a terrible year as well, up until last year it was actually the worst fire year we'd had in decades.
Wudup! Vancouver!
We chill bro, only thing that burns in Vancity is weed, not the forest. No wonder so many dislikes. Peace!
+Loud Mouth yeea buddy guiiye
+Loud Mouth lol bruh idk where u be at but just this summer there was a huge wild fire that cause all of greater vancouver to be covered in smoke
+Bernie Liu gzggxgxgddg
+Hung Nguyen (GTHP95) VAN LOSER!
I live in Manitoba 2000km (1200 miles) away from BC and we had days where our sky would be full of smoke from these fires.
David Suzuki for the fucking win.
Let it burn its self out like it’s supposed to for thousands of years, do not build near the woods if you do not take care of the land by removing the dead fuel (layers of dead stuff under the green,) making sure that 4 inch holes 4 feet down do shoot water bobs into them by passing that ash that will not let water through.
My dad's fighting 'the big one' and we FINALLY got to get a call from him last night. He says the prediction is all the fires will merge...
I'm terrified for my dad, I know they are being cautious and safe but seeing everything? only hearing from him every once in a while? It's hard. I'm hoping for the best and praying for all the firefighters.
I am not normally a fan of Vice but just to make it clear how bad the fires are... its bad. They aren't wrong there.
I live in BC and the summer of 2019 has been more wet and in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser valley there has been no smoke yet :)
yessss i live in abbotsford its been clear
For 3 days in a row, in a recent July, we had bright orange skies in Vancouver BC. Cloudless skies. Bright orange! The light from forest fires change the sky. Next summer : smoke was the theme. Joggers were recommended to stay indoors, basically don't go out. In summer. The best time for outdoor fun.
Vancouver is safe from Tsunami, protected by the Mountains on Vancouver Island, and thus sheltered from hurricanes. But fires, with all that fuel (forest), fire is a very real and increasing danger.
3 years later in BC it has gotten worse, this is 2018. Well, this year, not as much forest burned but a lot of them are infrastructure fires now, affecting a lot of communities and settlements. The smoke in the province is bad, but now has blown off. We need rain bad as of August!
sad coming back to this, to see Canada's most beautiful Province ablaze
im watching this in florida, and "climate change" is an illegal word, should i call the national guard?
plant some trees quickly! it does make a difference
Thank you David !!!
BC has fires again this summer this year 2018
People are not realizing that this is from 2015 not 2017/2018. I live in williams lake, where one of the worst 2017 bc fire took place. We got evacuated for almost 2 months.
i'm in Kitsap county, WA & we had smoke really bad a few days this past summer.
To anyone that’s arguing this and doubting what the video is saying. Just because you don’t like what you hear and what this reporter is trying to shed light on, DOES NOT MEAN ITS WRONG!
These people he’s interviewing aren’t just internet trolling self taught researchers that get their information from the internet. They are people that have dedicated their lives to studying it and getting certifications to prove they know what the hell theyre talking about. This is a serious issue! Yes they’re talking a lot about climate change, no they’re not saying fires are only caused by climate change, there are many different factors. Climate change is so real! I’m a university student working as a bear guide in the Toba Inlet where there are two huge fires burning. This video is important on so many levels. This is the first summer I’ve seen in 20 years that had a terrible thunderstorm and lighting storm that caused 12 new forest fires on North Vancouver Island ALONE. That has NEVER happened before. Even the lighting is getting more intense. Why? Because everything is getting hotter. The world could be on fire and you STILL wouldn’t say it’s climate change. Ffs
I live in the region, and choked on smoke for over 45+ days.... people saying this is "normal" and not a result of climate change and environmental destruction need to STFU. Experience this first hand and not from some apartment in a city.
It's shocking to have it happen to close to home, plus the oil spill, and chemical fire.
actually this year in BC we put out fires faster than anywhere else in North America and we always spend over budget
"lets put fences around people" David suzuki, thats some scary shit right there
In Vancouver, the sun was blocked out by smoke for a full week.
I used to look forward to summer here in Canada. But the summer of 2015 made me look forward to winter when the smoke would be cleared up. Sad.
"Can they adapt from suffocation of their eggs..." What the hell?
are people still dumb to not believe in climate change? -..- use some common sense and go to school
also what is up with the dislikes
When is this happened in British Columbia?
Every year
Damn, its kinda messed up that I thought this would be brand new and its not... :(
Damn dude down here in langley it gets kinda foggy/smokey sometimes. We are lucky, we havent been affected that hard yet.
I live in Central Wisconsi. Canadian smoke is a constant haze hanging and snuffing out our Sunshine
With B.C. as full of mountain ranges like it is one would think that near the bases of those mountains cisterns could be blasted out to catch the meltwater for use in drought conditions and fire fighting.
As of Sept 8 is the fire still burning?
Currently in nelson, bc. Can't see the mountains anymore... its literally all gray. The entire sky is filled with smoke.
Fire is needed for the health of the ecosystem in the long term
Thank you for putting up the video! I live in BC and my life was affected! The smoke gave my $90000 BMW a check engine light for ONE and HALF days ! utter madness. unacceptable.
You do know that BMW stands for Big Money Wasted? You did know that?
Southern interior resident. Fires all around and smokey. Neighboring towns evacuated to our area. Volunteered at the center and see the people stressed out. Watching the news everyday to see if its near us. You really start to think about climate change when this sort of thing is happening. I think it may be time for change.
It seems like BC gets it bad every six years.. Or just about..
Perhaps more so, because they don't let wildfires burn naturally anymore, letting the natural fuels build up more and more.
Fire is a natural process. Fire crews are a make work project.
Fort mcmurray is with you, We went through the same thing and many of us know what this is like. we are with you.
I go between Van and Creston. went by a burning one near Creston heading back home via Greyhound
I wonder if they sprayed that area with round up, seems the fires have excellerated since they started using that in the province.
I'm a snowboarder and this sux I want snow not rain is pain I want some crazy snow this year up in Oregon looking for 150in of snowfall I want that 300cm base
I just got back from visiting my family in BC and the fires were so bad that one night outside I could only see about 15 feet in front of me and it was so yellow it was as if I were wearing yellow tinted sun glasses
its kinda sad seeing the young guy huffing and puffing just from walking up a hill. I'm glad to see my home getting to national and global attention it needs.
Its called "weather"
+halo3odst Never have gotten weather like this in BC before. It's not just 'weather'.
Yet in the 60-70s there was worse air pollution and yet people were worried that the earth was getting too cold. Global warming first became a big deal when the global tempurature was determined without factoring in SIBERIA, aka freeze your ass off land.
Oh and im all for reducing the population.....oh wait you would rather not do that? Then what would tou like people to do? Buy back their carbon footprints? WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!!! (Totally not a scam at all)
Look up solar cycle
If I did not know any better, and I'm not sure if I do I would say mother nature was pretty angry about those buried children.
in Oliver, the average summer temperature has been raised from 35 C to 45 C in less than 3 years. It's obvious that global warming is a thing. I'm afraid that this summer might be too hot to even go outside
Chem trails are a legitimate concern out here in the west. They are spraying metal particles into the air every day when the air conditions/wind speeds are right. The metal particles capture moisture and carry it inland via the Jetstream. It works much like how aluminum in your deodorant is used as a antiperspirant. This effectively steals our rain here in the northwest and distributes it to inland area's affected by drought. They get water and we get burned, literally.
I dont understand why so many people plug their ears or close their eyes to the questionable things our govt/large corporations are doing. Its like people dont want to know the truth, that they are happy in their apartments/cubicles, living like a hamster.
oh...I thought this was recent...this is 3 years ago...jeez...it hasnt stopped burning
Every year? Nothing can be done?