The BC Wildfire Service has officially launched its new mobile app, which will provide real-time wildfire information and an interactive map for users to see a variety of fire-related data.
“The new app is one of many proactive initiatives undertaken by the BC Wildfire Service to give members of the public, media and stakeholders access to consistent, accurate and timely wildfire information throughout the province,” said the B.C. Government.
According to the Province, the mobile app includes four key features; a wildfire map, news and advisories, statistics and a fire reporting tool.
The opening page of the app is an interactive wildfire map that offers the same features as their website. The app also has a “Near Me” function to show wildfire activity with a 50-kilometre radius of their current location.
The Wildfire Map includes the following information:
- current fire danger ratings
- active fires
- fires that have been declared “out”
- open burning prohibitions (including campfire bans)
- evacuation alerts and evacuation orders
- area restrictions
- current wildfire statistics
- perimeters of wildfires for the current season (April 1 through March 31 of the following year)
- boundaries of B.C.’s six regional fire centres
- BC Parks closures and recreation site closures
- wildfire search tool (search by active fire name, fire number or location)
- Drive BC events (e.g., advisories and closures)
The BC Wildfire Service will be updating the app with the latest news and advisories, straight from their own Twitter feed. The newest advisories around B.C., including open burning bans and prohibitions, evacuation alerts and orders, or area restrictions will all be available.
Throughout the year, wildfire statistics will be collected on the app for the current wildfire season (April 1st to March 31st of the following year). Those statistics can be refined and filtered to a specific fire centre, stage of control, suspected wildfire cause, as well as active fires and current year fires.
Some of the statistics will include the following information:
- a rolling total of all active wildfires
- a rolling total of all wildfires (active and extinguished)
- the number of wildfires detected in the last two days
- the number of wildfires detected in the last seven days
Lastly, the app includes a fire reporting tool.
“The BC Wildfire Service relies on the public to report wildfires and irresponsible behaviour that could start a wildfire,” said the B.C. Government. “The app features a “Report a Fire” function that will automatically generate map coordinates of your current location. Provincial Wildfire Reporting Centre staff will ask for these coordinates when the user reports a wildfire.”
The BC Wildfire Service app is now available for download for all Apple and Android devices for free from the App Store or Google Play.
More: Android Download (Google Play)
More: Apple Download (App Stores)
