Fire

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Fatality in BC, Canada. Read elsewhere that a tree fell on her.

From a facebook page, I think it is BC Fires.

On Thursday evening our hearts broke.
Devyn Gale was an initial attack crew member out of the Columbia Fire Zone in Revelstoke.
She was a trusted colleague, a loving friend, a beloved sibling and a cherished daughter.
She personified the iconic Reds and Blues of wildland firefighting in British Columbia: she was bravery, grit, hard work, determination, leadership and selflessness.
She was one of us. She was the heart of us.
It is hard to articulate the connectedness of a community like ours. We work shoulder to shoulder for long hours in extremely challenging circumstances. Those experiences change you, they connect you, they sustain you.
On Thursday night we learned we had lost one of our own.
Tragically, Devyn passed away due to injuries sustained while fighting a wildfire. She died in service of her community protecting the people of British Columbia.
On behalf of the entire BC Wildfire Service we wish to recognize and honour the Gale family.
To Philomena, Graham, Nolan and Kayln we are with you however you need us in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
The Gale family have shared the following beautiful words with us, and by extension all of you, about their daughter and sister:
โ€œ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ง ๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐š๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ, ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐ ๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ. ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ, ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ง๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž. ๐–๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐›๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ. ๐–๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ก๐žโ€™๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ง๐จ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ. ๐–๐ž ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐ค๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ.โ€
As we turn into the dawn, there is more hard work ahead and many communities who need us. It is hard to comprehend how we move forward after such a loss, but we find the strength to do so through Devynโ€™s extraordinary example, in her memory and her name.
Devyn Gale. Colleague. Friend. Sister. Daughter. Hero.
-
In memory of Devyn the family encourage donations to the Revelstoke Community Foundation, to allow her vibrant legacy to live forever in the Revelstoke Community.
โ€ข Online: https://revelstokecommunityfoundation.com/donate/
โ€ข E-transfer: [email protected]
โ€ข Cash or cheque donation at Mackenzie Dental Centre in Revelstoke

May be an image of 1 person and text

All reactions:
2.1K2.1K
 
Fatality in BC, Canada. Read elsewhere that a tree fell on her.

From a facebook page, I think it is BC Fires.

On Thursday evening our hearts broke.
Devyn Gale was an initial attack crew member out of the Columbia Fire Zone in Revelstoke.
She was a trusted colleague, a loving friend, a beloved sibling and a cherished daughter.
She personified the iconic Reds and Blues of wildland firefighting in British Columbia: she was bravery, grit, hard work, determination, leadership and selflessness.
She was one of us. She was the heart of us.
It is hard to articulate the connectedness of a community like ours. We work shoulder to shoulder for long hours in extremely challenging circumstances. Those experiences change you, they connect you, they sustain you.
On Thursday night we learned we had lost one of our own.
Tragically, Devyn passed away due to injuries sustained while fighting a wildfire. She died in service of her community protecting the people of British Columbia.
On behalf of the entire BC Wildfire Service we wish to recognize and honour the Gale family.
To Philomena, Graham, Nolan and Kayln we are with you however you need us in the days, weeks, months and years to come.
The Gale family have shared the following beautiful words with us, and by extension all of you, about their daughter and sister:
โ€œ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ง ๐š๐ฆ๐š๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐๐š๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž ๐š๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ, ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ก๐š๐ซ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐›๐ž๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ข๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž ๐ ๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฅ๐Ÿ ๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ. ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐š๐ง ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ญ๐š๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐ž๐š๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ž๐ซ, ๐š ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐๐ž๐ซ ๐š๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐  ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฉ๐ž๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐ž๐ซ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ž๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐ง๐ฎ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ž. ๐–๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐›๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐ซ. ๐–๐ž ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ฌ๐ก๐žโ€™๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ž๐ญ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ค๐ข๐ง๐๐ง๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ง๐จ ๐ž๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ž๐œ๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐’๐ก๐ž ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ. ๐–๐ž ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ƒ๐ž๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ง ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ž ๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐ค๐š๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ.โ€
As we turn into the dawn, there is more hard work ahead and many communities who need us. It is hard to comprehend how we move forward after such a loss, but we find the strength to do so through Devynโ€™s extraordinary example, in her memory and her name.
Devyn Gale. Colleague. Friend. Sister. Daughter. Hero.
-
In memory of Devyn the family encourage donations to the Revelstoke Community Foundation, to allow her vibrant legacy to live forever in the Revelstoke Community.
โ€ข Online: https://revelstokecommunityfoundation.com/donate/
โ€ข E-transfer: [email protected]
โ€ข Cash or cheque donation at Mackenzie Dental Centre in Revelstoke

May be an image of 1 person and text

All reactions:
2.1K2.1K
Sincerest condolences to her colleagues and family. ๐Ÿ’” Gone too young in the service of her community, RIP young lady.
 
Beautiful British Columbia has returned the favor. A few weeks ago, we sent a fire north to them, now they have reciprocated. The Crater Cr. fire entered the USA last night. It did not go through customs, although might be pretty close to the Nighthawk entry point.

Yesterday, the mushroom cloud could be seen from the Safeway parking lot, although it was at least 40 miles away. Then the smoke drifted back into our valley so no more views.

We've had some winds and yesterday fires were popping up all over the east side of the state. I see the wind is picking up already. Smoke is bad this morning.

Stay tuned.
 
Our North Cascades Highway opens and closes and opens and closes...

Smoke moves in and out. The Crater Cr. fire is the source of it. It is an international fire, going on both sides of the border. It is also pretty much a let it go but try to steer it around fire--it'll go until nature dumps enough snow or rain on it.

We might get some rain tomorrow.
 
Our North Cascades Highway opens and closes and opens and closes...

Smoke moves in and out. The Crater Cr. fire is the source of it. It is an international fire, going on both sides of the border. It is also pretty much a let it go but try to steer it around fire--it'll go until nature dumps enough snow or rain on it.

We might get some rain tomorrow.
its trying to rain here on the west (wet) side, skookum is there is much rain farther north, at the beginning of said hwy anyways...
the smoke is nice and thick even with the attempted rain which makes the air thick to the touch
 
its trying to rain here on the west (wet) side, skookum is there is much rain farther north, at the beginning of said hwy anyways...
the smoke is nice and thick even with the attempted rain which makes the air thick to the touch
Trying here also. I have seen facebook posts that the area to the west (North Cascades) has been hammered with lightning (pay attention, Lonewolf) and power even knocked out. Heard a helicopter flying off to somewhere--the DNR keeps a crew here at the airport. We are supposed to be smitten this afternoon and have a flood watch going.

Lonewolf: The predicted storm for this area may be a classic one for you to learn from. When we get lightning followed by heavy rain, it causes the lightning strikes to sometimes smolder for weeks. Fires will pop up until they don't. We do have technology to track this better, but spontaneous combustion will not be the cause of fires popping up . Nature is a great "arsonist". Probably better than any human one.

It looks like we have a dry few hours so I'd best do some outside things.
 
Trying here also. I have seen facebook posts that the area to the west (North Cascades) has been hammered with lightning (pay attention, Lonewolf) and power even knocked out. Heard a helicopter flying off to somewhere--the DNR keeps a crew here at the airport. We are supposed to be smitten this afternoon and have a flood watch going.

Lonewolf: The predicted storm for this area may be a classic one for you to learn from. When we get lightning followed by heavy rain, it causes the lightning strikes to sometimes smolder for weeks. Fires will pop up until they don't. We do have technology to track this better, but spontaneous combustion will not be the cause of fires popping up . Nature is a great "arsonist". Probably better than any human one.

It looks like we have a dry few hours so I'd best do some outside things.
its damp here now, rained off and on all day, but the ground is still dusty...
Lake Whatcom has a nice crown fire choochin... with last I heard NO crews on the ground to fight it... its currently in an unpopulated area, but there aren't many on that lake... and its reallll close to Bellingham so?
 
Iโ€™m just out here wondering how many fed employees will actually quit, strike (which is difficult because their contracts prohibit it) or just not show up to work when the โ€œpay cliffโ€ comes into effect next month as the temporary pay supplement comes to an end, given that congress does not seem interested in working together.
 
Iโ€™m just out here wondering how many fed employees will actually quit, strike (which is difficult because their contracts prohibit it) or just not show up to work when the โ€œpay cliffโ€ comes into effect next month as the temporary pay supplement comes to an end, given that congress does not seem interested in working together.
We already see the effects of the years of budget cuts. There are only so many 10% cuts (a popular figure used in the past) that agencies can take. For years, the USFS has been told to make do with a declining budget and employees. Trails are grown in, roads suck, campgrounds have been turned over to "concessionaires" who hire people who don't know what they are doing.

Also, when I started with the FS, the temporary workforce, which included firefighters (we all were firefighters) consisted of young people who left for college in September. We weren't trying to support a family, we were trying to pay for school. Most were not forestry majors, and went on to other careers.

At some time, I'm thinking 1990ish, there was a change. People started working for the FS and relying on working as temporaries each year to support themselves and or families. Full time employment has been hard to come by with the agency, and even more so if people aren't willing to take a job in some little place like Happy Camp, CA to get a foot in the door, and a downgrade in pay to restart. So they returned, year after year as permanent temporary employees and got no benefits, like the retirement program. Which was redone and isn't so good anymore. Like everywhere else, it's become a race to the bottom.

The FS is still geared for the work to make money for school, then go on to another career. The population in the little towns it serves, are not.

I had a couple of "old hippies" working on a timber crew who always lamented the fact that they were not "permanent" employees. I'd suggest they apply for openings elsewhere where they might get hired, and be told no way, they deserved to be permanent where they lived. It was frustrating. There was no way they were going to be hired on as a permanent employee where they lived. Plus, so many won't go to the trouble to do the paperwork to get a better career type job.

Anyway, we are seeing the results of years of "cost cutting" which must be done to get politicians elected. Both political parties are guilty. The Contract With America struck a big blow, but then the Northwest Forest Plan also decimated the PNW. Then Al Gore had a Reinventing Government idea, where federal employees would compete with contractors for jobs--more race to the bottom. Now we have the results of all the politicking.

Meanwhile (pay attention Lone wolf!) we had a lightning bust go through Washington the State this week. What is not normal is that it set off fires on the wet side of the state, deep in the woods (not where them arsonists would bother to go) and they are having to prioritize the fires as there are not enough bodies to send to each one. It's been dry. The trees are many, the duff is deep.

Stay tuned.
 
its damp here now, rained off and on all day, but the ground is still dusty...
Lake Whatcom has a nice crown fire choochin... with last I heard NO crews on the ground to fight it... its currently in an unpopulated area, but there aren't many on that lake... and its reallll close to Bellingham so?
Read yesterday that no crews were put on it due to the terrain involved. Crews aren't as stupid as they were when I did smoke chasing. The fire has grown and they were talking evacuations in an area.

West side fires can be beastly.
 
Mother Nature just put a fork in fire season here in Northern California. I received 3/4" of rain this morning.


80-fire_season_ends_00cac03d083dced4bde94e00b5d65549df64051c.jpg
 
Back
Top