What does a ‘human caused’ wildfire actually mean in B.C.

Both the Bradley Creek wildfire and the Quilpituk Creek wildfire are suspected to be human caused, but that doesn’t necessarily mean someone threw a cigarette out their car window or had a campfire.

There have been 877 wildfires in B.C. so far this season, and 411 of those were caused by humans. BC Wildfire Service counts almost anything that wasn’t caused by lightning as caused by humans.

Fireworks, cigarettes and campfires typically jump to the front of people’s minds when it comes to human caused fires, but power lines, vehicles and industrial activity are all counted as human caused fires.

“It’s a suspected human cause because we haven’t had any lightning,” Nicole Bonnett with the Kamloops Fire Centre told iNFOnews.ca.

She said it could take a long time to determine what the exact cause was for the Bradley Creek and Quilpituk Creek fires.

“Anything that is not suspected to be caused by lightning falls under the suspected human cause category. Then a fire origin and cause investigation has to be completed in order to narrow down within the human cause category,” Bonnett said.

Wildfire investigations can take weeks or months to determine an exact cause if it isn’t readily apparent like a vehicle incident that sparked a wildfire in Peachland last year.

“That investigation can take quite a bit of time because there’s a bunch of field time involved, talking to people who might have been in the area. Then a report that they have to write up that reviews all of the information that they’ve collected during their investigation,” she said.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of public speculation about what the causes might be.”

Investigators look for ignition sources, burn patterns, weather history and any physical evidence left at the source of a fire to try to determine an exact cause.

The split between lightning caused and human caused fires varies significantly.

The 10-year average shows 36 per cent of wildfires are human caused, but in 2020, 59 per cent of wildfires were human caused and in 2023 just 26 per cent of wildfires were human caused.

The maximum penalty for someone who causes a wildfire is a $1 million fine and three years in prison. People who start forest fires can still be sued for much more for the damage caused in the fire like the Canadian National Railway which had to pay $16 million for starting a wildfire near Lytton in 2015.

The wildfire service said people ought to be cautious about more than just smoking and campfires.

“Before you light a campfire, operate equipment or burn yard waste, take a moment to consider the conditions around you. Small actions can make a big difference in preventing wildfires,” it said in a statement.