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Forest Fires in Western Canada - 2003 Forest Fire Season
The 2003 forest fire season on the West Coast of Canada was one of the worst in a century. Extremely dry conditions all summer turned the forest into a tinderbox. Back country travel throughout the interior of B.C. was totally banned. The communities of Kelowna and Barriere were particularly hard hit. Overall, the fires caused the destruction of 334 homes and many businesses in the Interior. More than 45,000 people were evacuated from their communities. In Barriere, the mill was destroyed, leaving most of the town unemployed.
Over 260,000 hectares of forest were destroyed province wide.
Business Impact
The total cost of the firestorm that hit the Interior of British Columbia is estimated at $700 million. This includes property and business losses and the cost of fighting the fires. The greatest cost of all was the loss of three lives, pilots who died in the line of duty. Most businesses that were directly in the path of the fire were completely destroyed and never re-opened. Others suffered from an extended period of closure which led to the loss of revenues and clients due to the inability to supply demand.
A fire can ravage a business, as one startling statistic makes clear: more than 75 percent of businesses that suffer a serious fire go out of business within three years of reopening. This is if they re-open at all, most don’t. Fires will destroy all of business assets including all data and backups. Businesses that prepare contingency plans, train their employees for emergency situations, and call for immediate professional help with the cleanup stand a much better chance of a solid recovery.
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