2024 Wildfire Risk Management Framework

2024 Wildfire Risk Management Framework

About Electricity Canada

Founded in 1891, Electricity Canada is the national forum and voice of Canada’s evolving and innovative electricity business. Through its advocacy efforts, the association supports the regional, national, and international success of its members.

Electricity Canada members generate, transmit, and distribute electrical energy to industrial, commercial, residential, and institutional customers across Canada. Members include integrated electric utilities, independent power producers, transmission and distribution companies, power marketers, manufacturers and suppliers of materials, technology, and services.

Disclaimer

Electricity Canada prepared this publication considering the elements of the ISO 31000 Framework on Risk Management. This document is not intended to be comprehensive or a prescriptive approach to managing risk, as wildfire management circumstances vary by province and company jurisdiction.

Moreover, it is acknowledged explicitly that:

• The strategies and tactics identified in the document do not apply to every electricity company equally and may not be appropriate for each, given their widely differing circumstances.

• The strategies and tactics do not holistically represent the current strategies and tactics of every electricity provider regarding wildfire risk management.

• If a member company chooses to do so, it will require sufficient time to develop and implement the recommendations for wildfire risk management as contemplated herein.

• In many instances, companies will require regulatory approvals with respect to the costs and operational undertakings associated with implementing the strategies and tactics outlined in the guide for wildfire risk mitigation, which impacts the pace of development and implementation.

Electricity Canada encourages all electricity providers to implement strategies and tactics for wildfire risk management while receiving appropriate approval from authorities. Electricity Canada endorses our members’ need for sufficient regulatory support and the resources to implement the tactics and strategies within this document as required for their operational and jurisdictional makeup.

Glossary of Terms

Terminology Description

Build-Up Index (BUI)

Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS)

Drought Code (DC)

Duff Moisture Code (DMC)

Emergency Response Plan (ERP)

Fine Fuels

A numerical rating of the total amount of fuel available for combustion that combines the Duff Moisture Code and Drought Code.

The national system of rating fire danger in Canada. The CFFDRS includes all guides to evaluating fire danger and predicting fire behaviour such as the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System and Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction System.

A numerical rating of the average moisture content of deep, compact organic layers. This code indicates seasonal drought effects on forest fuels, and is a predictor of smouldering in deep duff layers and large logs.

A numerical rating of the average moisture content of loosely compacted organic layers of moderate depth. This code indicates fuel consumption in moderate duff layers and medium sized woody material.

A document developed to ensure quick access to critical information to effectively and efficiently respond to an emergency.

Fuels that dry quickly, ignite readily, and are consumed rapidly by fire. Examples include: cured grass, fallen leaves, needles, and small twigs.

Embers Heated organic material.

Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System

Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC)

Fire Weather Index (FWI) System

A subsystem of the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System. The FBP System provides quantitative outputs of fire behaviour characteristics for certain major Canadian fuel types and topographic situations.

A numerical rating of the moisture content of litter and other cured fine fuels. This code indicates the relative ease of ignition and flammability of fine fuel.

A numerical rating of fire intensity. It is used as an index of fire danger throughout forested and non-urban areas.

Ignition Source or start of a fire.

Initial Spread Index (ISI)

High-Risk Fire Area (HRFA)

Mineral Soil

Mitigation

A numerical rating related to the expected rate of fire spread. It combines the effects of wind and Fine Fuel Moisture Code on the rate of spread but excludes the influence of variable quantities of fuel.

High Fire Risk Area are defined as areas with heightened wildfire risk where mitigation is required. The high level of risk is determined by government forestry departments and wildfire agencies and/or utility developed risk modelling/mapping.

Non-organic soil.

Action that moderates a component of wildfire risk.

Must Mandatory

Resilience

Risk

The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.

Effect of uncertainty on objectives or the organization.

Shall Mandatory

Should Recommended

Suppression

Tolerable Risk

Wildfire

Wildfire Risk

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan (WRMP)

Suppression includes the elements that are related in containing a wildfire upon detection in order to protect assets, personnel and equipment.

An acceptable level of risk given the context.

Any unwanted or unplanned fire that burns in forested or grassland areas.

Wildfire risk is defined as a combination of the following five components:

Wildfire Risk = Likelihood x Severity x Exposure x Values x Vulnerability

WRMPs provide a framework to drive wildfire risk mitigation programs that both reduces wildfire risk from electrical infrastructure and operations, and continues the evolution of future WRMPs through program evaluation and innovation.

1. Introduction

Purpose

This document provides electricity providers with a risk management framework related to wildfires. It provides insight and input into developing a risk model and identifies the need to develop a wildfire risk mitigation plan (WRMP). The document also provides insight into the size of several past wildfires that have impacted the industry in Canada and abroad. It is important to note that a solution in one jurisdiction may not be appropriate in a neighbouring jurisdiction.

1.0 Introduction

Wildfires are a natural process and an essential part of many ecosystems in Canada. The encroachment of human life and urban development into fire-prone ecosystems and the increasing prevalence of high fire-danger weather have led to damaging and sometimes fatal incidents. Utility wildfire risk is related to both the impacts associated with wildfire starting from utility infrastructure and the impacts of wildfire on the landscape to utility infrastructure.

Incidents such as Black Saturday (Australia, 2009) demonstrated the potential impacts of powerline-ignited fires under extreme fire weather conditions. The Black Saturday bushfires caused 173 fatalities. Approximately 450,000 hectares and 3,500 buildings were destroyed, and the electric utility distributor was held liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages 1. In the United States, the Camp wildfire (2018) was started by a powerline in extreme wildfire conditions with catastrophic results. The Camp fire resulted in the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California’s history, with 18,804 structures destroyed, $10 billion in damages, and 85 fatalities. 2

In addition to threatening human life and safety, aggressive and rapidly spreading wildfires have the potential to damage utility infrastructure and negatively impact utility company operations, customers, and local economies. In 2023, Canada faced the most impactful fire season on record, where over 15 million hectares were burned 3,4 , (Figure 1.0). An unparalleled number of people were displaced 5 , 5 and utility companies faced significant asset loss. The Horse River wildfire in 2016 impacted Fort McMurray and other communities in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo and damaged over 7,536 km of distribution and transmission powerlines and 560 electric transmission poles. ATCO Gas and Electric reported $35 million in capital costs. In 2002, the House River wildfire in northeast Alberta impacted multiple utilities, resulting in over $1,000,000 in transmission pole damages and outages lasting 25 days.6

This framework is intended to support electricity provider activities in designing wildfire risk management programs that address risk to and from electrical infrastructure and operation through a structured risk management process and assist in developing a wildfire mitigation plan.

1.1 Wildfire trends impacting electrical utilities

Canada’s forests are becoming increasingly flammable due to forest insects and disease, a changing climate, effective fire suppression, and past and present forest management. Increased flammability increases risk, and more people than ever are living and working in fire-prone areas.7

Research conducted by Natural Resources Canada identified a significant increase in areas burned since 1959. At the same time, the number of large fires has doubled over the past 57 years in Canada. 8 These large fires represent just three per cent of all wildfires but account for 97% of the total area burned in recorded years.9

Utility assets and standard operations can generate wildfires when surrounding fuel conditions are dry enough to facilitate ignition and sustained combustion. The most damaging fires typically occur under extreme fire weather conditions, often generalized as ‘hot, dry and windy.’ High wind speeds are a well-known factor in major fire disasters, as they can contribute to dangerously fast spread rates in all vegetation types. This is particularly

concerning when mitigating fires caused by powerlines, as extreme wind speeds associated with elevated fire spread also increase the potential for vegetation intrusion or asset failure that can cause ignitions. As a result of climate change, projections suggest that more extreme conditions, including more high wind-speed events, can be expected.10

Proactive prevention, mitigation, and preparedness will help utilities prevent wildfires from igniting and protect their assets from damage or destruction.

1.0: Area burned by wildfires (Source: Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. (CIFFC))

1.2 Using a wildfire risk framework

The framework guides Canadian electricity companies (distribution, transmission, and generation) concerning wildfire risk and mitigation. It is intended to inform the electricity industry on reducing the likelihood of their operations igniting wildfires and mitigating the risk of utility assets being impacted by wildfire while maintaining safe and reliable customer service.

High-level guidance is provided, supporting the development of a structured or systematic approach to risk management while acknowledging that the context in which each utility in Canada operates can vary.

Figure

2. Wildfire information

2.0 Wildfire information

The following key terms are frequently used when discussing wildfire risk; however, there is often not a common understanding of these terms across industries. The following information has been provided to support common language and understanding of wildfire risk.

2.1 Drivers of a wildfire

Three interacting elements, commonly referred to as the ‘fire triangle,’ determine wildfire behaviour: fuel, weather, and topography. The interaction between these three factors determines how a wildfire behaves, how fast it spreads, and how intensely it burns.

Fuel refers to any flammable material, including vegetation (leaves, bark, trees, duff) that the fire burns. It can also include man-made fuels, such as wooden structures. The fuel type, dryness, size, and arrangement can influence a wildfire’s speed, size, and severity. Fuel is the only component of a wildfire that we can control, and the most significant (no fuel, no fire). Fuel treatment plans aim to change the arrangement, size, and even fuel type in an area around an asset or a community to change how a fire behaves. Reducing fire behaviour or intensity to allow wildfire response crews to control or extinguish a fire is a critical objective of fuel treatment plans.

Weather influences how fast a fire moves and how intensely it burns. It also influences whether an ignition, (e.g. from tree intrusion on a powerline) will extinguish or develop into a fire. Winds at ground level and higher elevations will spread a fire in a certain direction, enable the spread of embers and supply the fire with oxygen to increase fuel combustion. Further, atmospheric dryness, lack of rain, and high air temperature will contribute to the degree and rate of fuel drying, making them more available to burn. In extreme fire weather conditions, weather becomes a more significant factor in fire growth than the fuel type.

Topography describes land shape, elevation above sea level, steepness, and slope direction (e.g., south-facing). Topography also includes land features such as canyons and valleys. All these features can increase or slow wildfire spread. Elevation influences environmental conditions like air temperature. The slope influences vegetation growth and dryness (south-facing slopes have more heat from the sun and are drier). Slope also influences how fast a fire moves-faster uphill due to pre-heating of vegetation from rising hot air and flame, and slower downhill. Features such as valleys influence wildfire spread by directing wind flow.

2.2 Components of a wildfire

Wildfire can negatively impact a value (See Section 3.1 Values at Risk), such as a utility infrastructure or a home, through:

• Direct flame contact,

• Radiant heat exposure,

• Smoke exposure,

• Ash build-up,

• Ember exposure, and

• Convective energy output (i.e., the heat energy produced by and rising from the wildfire).

Types of wildfires

There are three types of wildfires:

• Ground fires burn beneath the surface (deeper duff layers, tree roots). These fires can ‘overwinter,’ which means they can continue to smoulder underground during winter and, when the right conditions arrive, can appear above ground by burning up through drying fuels. These fires can be difficult to suppress completely and need monitoring.

• Surface fires spread along the forest floor, burning fuels on the ground (leaf litter and duff layer) and woody debris. The rate of fire spread depends on many factors; however, intensity is usually manageable for successful wildfire suppression – except in the cases of fast-moving grass fires.

• Crown fires travel through the tree canopies and most often completely burn fuel at all levels in the forest from the ground up. Crown fires are typically high-intensity, large wildfires during warm and dry weather patterns that remain long enough to dry out vegetation and cause extreme fire conditions.

Larger fires typically occur under extreme fire weather conditions that produce intense, fast-spreading fires that move exceptionally quickly through grasslands or in forests from the ground into the forest canopy (i.e., tree crowns). In this way, fire size, intensity, and type (i.e., ground, surface, or crown fire) are related. Most fires in Canada are small, low-intensity surface or ground fires, but when conditions are extreme, less common large, high-intensity crown fires can also occur.

Fire severity and intensity

Fire severity refers to the effects or impacts of a wildfire. Severity is often used to describe organic matter consumption from flaming and smouldering combustion – higher severity wildfires consume more fuel. The term can be used more colloquially for many different perspectives, including, but not limited to, impacts on water quality, economic activity, infrastructure, and suppression expenditures. For this guide, severity refers to fuel consumption.

Wildfire intensity (head fire intensity) is the rate of heat energy release per unit of time per unit length of the head of the fire. Flame size is its main visual manifestation. Head fire intensity is a significant determinant of specific fire effects and difficulty of control. Numerically, it is equal to the product of the net heat of combustion, the quantity of fuel consumed in the flaming front, and the linear rate of spread.

A high-intensity wildfire gives off significant energy and often results in high burn severity.

2.3 Fire regimes

Complex ecological and climatic processes influence wildfire occurrence. Fire regimes are typically described using historical data that summarizes various characteristics of fires in a given area, including fire frequency, intensity, and severity; overall area burned annually; and information on the types of fires that occur. Fire regimes vary across Canada, and utilities will benefit from understanding the specific fire regimes that characterize the areas in which they operate. However, historic fire regimes are changing across Canada regarding the area burned and the number of large fires.11

2.4 Wildfire season

Fire behaviour varies with seasons. For example, spring wildfire risk can be high between the time of snow melt, and when green-up occurs and grasses are no longer dormant over winter. Green-up is when deciduous trees produce leaves with high moisture content, making them harder to burn. When grasses grow, they also increase their moisture content, turning green. Strong winds can dry vegetation and support wildfires in spring weather windows. Once deciduous trees reach the green-up stage, the wildfire risk can lower until warm summer conditions persist long enough to dry fuels. Exceptions to this scenario can occur, especially when spring weather conditions are dry and there are coniferous and grass fuels underneath a deciduous overstory.

Awareness of wildfire seasons in each province and territory is vital for utilities to prepare and establish mitigation practices for the year. The wildfire season may start earlier in a given year due to a lack of snowfall during the preceding winter and/or limited precipitation in the spring. Further, large grassfires have been recorded in winter during snow-free periods under extreme wind conditions.

3. Defining wildfire risk

3.0 Defining wildfire risk

Wildfire risk can be described in several ways. This guide uses the internationally recognized risk management standard ISO 31000:2018 Risk Management – Principles and Guidelines. 12 and applies it to wildland fire risk management using an adaptation of research.13 Wildfire risk is defined as a combination of the following five components:

Wildfire Risk = Likelihood x Severity x Exposure x Values x Vulnerability

Likelihood – The chance of a wildfire occurring – in this case, the potential for utility infrastructure or operations to ignite a fire which will spread and impact values on the landscape.

Severity – Related to how fuel ignites, flames develop, fuel is consumed, and the fire spreads.

Exposure – The proximity of the value (topography, direction, distance) to wildfire hazard, the severity of the fire, and the length of time the value is vulnerable.

Values – Any social, environmental, or economic asset that is considered valuable – in this case, related to public safety and infrastructure.

Vulnerability – Predisposition of a value to being impacted by the wildfire.

In theory, completely removing one of these factors eliminates wildfire risk. For example, if a value at risk is not vulnerable to a wildfire, there is no wildfire risk regardless of the other four factors being present or relevant in a situation. It is challenging to eliminate one of the five components. Therefore, the corresponding risk is a function of the five factors influencing each other to varying degrees. Considering each of these components in the overall risk assessment process is recommended to the greatest extent possible, given the scale of the analysis and availability of information. Opportunities to refine the overall understanding of wildfire risk are commonly related to improved information for each component.

3.1 Values at risk

Key to understanding wildfire risk is the presence, location, and vulnerability of the values at risk, or the values and interests of electrical utilities regarding potential fire impacts. When utilities consider wildfire risk from their operations, the values at risk are generally related to the broader public safety, human life, structures, and economy. When utilities consider wildfire risk to their operations, the values at risk are their assets, operational impacts, reliability, and customers.

Depending on the wildfire risk in question, the understanding of values at risk involves a process through which critical values are identified across the landscape, including:

• Human life, public safety—This category is represented by residences, businesses, roads, trails, etc. The impacts are described as more than just human life (and possible death or injury) but also the social/ psychological impacts of wildfires, which can be quite significant.

• Communities—These are generally related to designated communities, including cities, towns, hamlets, and indigenous communities, where there is more than just a conglomeration of residences but something of a community fabric.

• Infrastructure/Economy – Infrastructure, businesses, transportation, economic activity, etc.

• First Nations and Indigenous culture and heritage – protecting significant sites and ways of life, including food and medicine sources and spiritual sites.

• Environmental – environmental values at risk of wildfire impacts, including values such as fire-sensitive ecosystems, wildfire-driven ecosystems and water sources (such as water catchments as the risk of wildfire impacts).

4. Wildfire risk mitigation planning

4.0 Wildfire risk mitigation planning

4.1 Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan core principles

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plans (WRMPs) should be guided by the following core principles. These principles ensure WRMPs align with an internationally recognized risk management framework, are considerate of the context in which they are developed, enable the utility to respond to the current wildfire risk situation and measure the effectiveness of their processes.

• Utilize a clear risk framework: Use a risk management framework (such as ISO 31000: 2018 Risk Management Guidelines) to assist in the language and process of risk management—to make decisions, set and achieve measures, and improve performance as it relates to wildfire risk mitigation.

• Collaborate in risk response: Although electricity providers influence the potential for wildfire ignitions from or to their assets and operations, wildfire risk related to these ignitions is shared with the different levels of government, industry and the public.

• Reduce ignition potential: Engineering more resilient systems that experience fewer fault events can reduce the frequency of ignition events related to electric transmission and distribution facilities.

• Reduce impacts on infrastructure: When a wildfire does occur, the impact might be avoided or minimized by addressing wildfire risk factors (e.g., exposure).

• Enhance situational awareness: Systems that facilitate situational awareness and operational readiness are central to mitigating wildfire risk.

• Ensure risk mitigation system effectiveness: Systems that measure the effectiveness of wildfire risk mitigation actions are vital to the plan’s success.

• Link mitigation to risk level: A successful plan must consider the impact on stakeholders and communities, its effect on the provision of safe and reliable electric service, and the extent to which it is commensurate with both risks and costs.

These principles are evolving and subject to change. As new analyses, technologies, practices, network changes, environmental influences, or risks are identified, measures may be adjusted and/or incorporated into future iterations of the WRMPs. In addition, the WRMPs should integrate and interface with various operating policies, asset management, and engineering practices, which are subject to change.

4.1.1 Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan components

An effective WRMP should include goals, strategies, and objectives to improve the ability of utility companies to prioritize and execute risk mitigation actions. Within the context of this guide:

• Goals are high-level, qualitative, and focused on the long-term vision to be achieved;

• Strategies refers to broad plans of action regarding how to achieve identified goals; and,

• Actions are more precise and measured results (or targets) that are achievable within a set timeframe.

Goals, strategies, and actions guide the level of effort invested in wildfire risk management. An organization’s objectives, strategies, and actions will also help develop and/or define risk tolerance, a critical component in developing a risk management framework. Risk tolerance refers to defined acceptable levels of risk and a threshold at which action must be taken to reduce risk if exceeded.

Additional components recommended for WRMPs relate to monitoring the plan, evaluating outcomes and continuing to improve the process:

• Performance metrics: measurable metrics to determine the success of the objectives specifically and the WRMP overall in meeting the goals and strategies.

• Persons responsible for executing the WRMP: a list of the WRMP’s roles and responsibilities and the positions, committees, or teams responsible.

• Monitoring and review: systematic monitoring of WRMP progress and review of successes and challenges enables utilities to adapt and improve their risk mitigation processes.

Identification of the requirements and regulatory framework in which the WRMP must operate is important to support jurisdictional and regulatory compliance.

4.2 Wildfire risk assessment

A structured wildfire risk assessment (including risk identification, analysis and evaluation) is key to effective wildfire mitigation. The exact methodology used to identify wildfire risks will be unique to each utility company, as the process should be guided by and aligned with their objectives, current wildfire risk management program, availability of resources, and the scale of the analysis.

4.2.1 Wildfire Risk identification

Electricity providers should identify wildfire risk across their service area by identifying and defining the following wildfire risk components to the greatest extent possible:

• Wildfire behaviour during different seasons,

• Potential impacts and consequences (i.e., values at risk),

• Vulnerability of values at risk or assets,

• Exposure of values at risk or assets to wildfire hazard, and

• Likelihood of impacts.

This identification process should be supported by professional wildfire specialist expertise and include analysis of fuels, weather, topography, and fire behaviour potential. The risk analysis processes outlined below can achieve this.

Wildfire risk modeling and mapping – both to and from utility infrastructure Wildfire risk can be spatially modelled and mapped when values at risk have known locations. These values can be utility infrastructure assets and surrounding community/environmental values.

Results from mapping processes should identify high-risk areas in both wildfire risk scenarios (to and from infrastructure). Mapping wildfire risk in this way is essential for informing many of the other activities/tactics that follow in this guide.

The term ‘high-risk areas’ for this document refers to locations identified in a company’s service area where either:

• The infrastructure in that area is under a high degree of wildfire risk due to its value, vulnerability, exposure, and likelihood of wildfire impact; or,

• The community values in that area are at a high degree of wildfire risk due to electrical infrastructure-caused ignitions.

Utilities should consider enlisting wildfire experts to conduct comprehensive risk assessments to assess the likelihood of a fire occurring in a particular location and predict fire behaviour outcomes. The specific type of assessment required will depend on several factors. Fire ignition likelihood is not constant, and it will fluctuate in any given location both seasonally and day-to-day due to weather conditions and resulting changes in fuel moisture. These seasonal and daily changes in fire risk should be monitored by utilities and covered in the situational awareness section.

Over longer strategic planning timeframes, wildfire risk can be assessed using a wide range of approaches. Fire risk assessment is a rapidly developing field, and new models and methods are being developed continuously. Provincial fire management agencies typically conduct risk assessments for their jurisdictions and may have readily available risk maps, or standards, and recommended modeling techniques for the fire regimes characteristic of their management areas. A common approach is to analyze historical fire records to develop predictive statistical models that can be used to map variation in fire likelihood across a region in relation to influential factors such as fuel type, slope, and weather conditions. Computer simulations offer an alternate avenue that lets the modeller systematically vary conditions to see how the growth of the simulated fire is affected. Probabilistic models are popular, however, these models are informative in situations where ignition probabilities are relatively low but could grow into fires that could result in catastrophic impacts. In these low-probability, high-consequence situations, contingency planning is recommended. All fire risk modelling approaches have limitations and will generate predictions that have uncertain accuracy. Multiple approaches are highly recommended.

When examining the risk to infrastructure, once fire weather and fire behaviour predictions have been estimated, utilities’ assets can be overlaid on the map to identify locations where infrastructure is exposed to wildfire hazards. Consideration should then be given to the vulnerability of infrastructure components to the expected wildfire hazard (e.g., embers/smoke/radiant heat and so on). Other critical elements to consider are the importance of different pieces of infrastructure in the operation of the network and their difficulty or cost to replace. Then, using all this information, strategic prevention and mitigation efforts can be aligned for the most benefit.

To assess wildfire risk from infrastructure, each utility should consider the impact of wildfires starting from their infrastructure and examine possible impacts on surrounding values. Identifying these values requires a structured approach to identifying categories of values (as discussed in 3.1 Values at Risk). Wildfire modelling can be an informative method for determining potential impacts from utility ignitions. For example, wildfires can be modelled at regular intervals along powerlines under a variety of weather conditions, and their potential impact on surrounding communities and other values is assessed. The ignition locations associated with the most impactful wildfires are identified as high-risk ignition locations, and the areas where those impacts are more likely to occur are identified as high-risk fire areas.

The following table outlines sources of information that can inform wildfire risk modelling and mapping processes (Table 1.0).

Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) and its components 14

The CFFDRS is a national system for rating the risk of forest fires in Canada. It is composed of two sub-systems, the Fire Weather Index and Fire Behavior Prediction System. Combined, they produce qualitative and/or numeric indices of fire potential, which are used as guides in a wide variety of fire management activities.

Topography Land surface and features include valleys, mountains, rivers and lakes.

Historical weather patterns

Historical understanding of weather features such as drought levels through lack of precipitation, wind speed and wind direction can inform seasons when wildfire risk can be high for consideration in longer-term wildfire risk mitigation planning.

Table 1.0 Risk Modelling/Mapping Inputs for strategic planning purposes

Wildfire history

4.2.2 Wildfire risk analysis

Examining ignition history and wildfire history enables a better understanding of wildfire regimes in an area.

Risk analysis involves a detailed review and understanding of the identified risks to understand the source of risks and how to influence them. This process uses a range of tools, including the commonly used ‘bow tie analysis’ that involves a structured discussion and documentation of new or enhanced actions or measures that can be used to mitigate the identified risks. Risk analysis is a core part of risk treatment planning, particularly where there is a high level of risk or where control effectiveness is assessed as low, to ensure that mitigation efforts are prioritized effectively.

4.2.3 Wildfire risk evaluation

The final step in the risk assessment process is ‘risk evaluation,’ which involves reviewing the overall risks and evaluating if a proactive response is warranted. Key to the evaluation program is both:

1. The understanding of current risks and how they could be mitigated, and

2. Following mitigation, what would the residual, or remaining risk be.

Some identified risks may not warrant risk mitigation, while other situations will be identified as priorities requiring risk mitigation actions.

4.2.5 Wildfire risk monitoring

There are a variety of tools to assist with the monitoring of wildfire risk and the effect of mitigation activities. Whichever tool is selected should include the following components:

• Formalized risk tracking - Consolidating and coordinating wildfire risk identification, evaluation and proposed mitigation actions in a single location will support further integration of wildfire risk mitigation across the utility’s operations.

• Risk mitigation effectiveness - developing appropriate metrics, and monitoring and reporting on risk mitigation effectiveness.

5. Addressing ignition risk

5.0 Addressing ignition risk

A key component of mitigating wildfire risk is understanding the probability of wildfire occurrence and impact. Regarding electricity providers and wildfire risk from assets or operations, ignitions are generally related to:

• the likelihood that a damaged powerline will cause an ignition that could result in a wildfire or,

• the potential for operational activity to start a wildfire.

Responding to each of these potential ignition sources is essential.

5.1 Asset management – monitoring and maintenance

Wildfire risk management must be integrated into utility (transmission, distribution, and generation) asset management, combining ignition and damage risk impacts. This is being considered by utilities globally for full integration into the overall asset management system to support appropriate infrastructure monitoring, maintenance, and improvement activities.

Implementing systematic monitoring plans is necessary to understand the condition of utility assets across operating areas. The development of formal monitoring programs and inspection policies, standards, and procedures is recommended to ensure the utilities’ efforts to monitor equipment, identify issues, and proactively mitigate risks are well-documented. These monitoring plans are being performed regularly, with more detailed inspections in areas with higher wildfire risk.

Utilities have already begun implementing asset health indexing programs to identify poorly conditioned equipment and outdated legacy designs. Combining this information with the known areas where more likely and more significant impacts from wildfire could be incurred will help identify assets at the highest risk. Based on the identified wildfire risk, the maintenance and improvement of utility assets to reduce ignition potential should be prioritized.

Established utility practices for monitoring and maintenance include:

• Consider and expedite equipment for maintenance, replacement, or upgrade before the fire season based on the results of strategic fire risk assessments.

• Implement systematic monitoring plans to regularly assess equipment condition (health levels).

• Identify infrastructure that requires rebuilding. Old infrastructure should be replaced if it does not meet operating and fire mitigation standards.

• Undertaking ongoing upgrades throughout the fire season on high-risk equipment.

Companies also consider the following additional system maintenance approaches (including system hardening and upgrades), where applicable, as a part of their monitoring and maintenance practices (Table 2.0):

Table 2.0 Example Maintenance Activities for Ignition Prevention

Activity Examples

Pole type

Pole loading

Replacing wood poles that have deteriorated due to wear.

Consider risk mitigation options such as replacing wood poles with steel or fiberglass poles where appropriate, applying fire-retardant treatment to wood poles, using fire shields on wood poles, and ensuring the base of the pole is clear of flammable materials to prevent fire from travelling underneath the shield.

Increasing wind loading of structures

Conductors and components

Installing insulated conductors, utilizing stronger clamps, checking splices regularly, cross-arm and insulation replacement

Animal management Installation of animal deterrence gear can reduce wildlife contact with equipment, preventing wildlife-caused ignitions.

System protection (relays and line reclosers)

SCADA for substation relays, recloser technology, fault location data from relays

Fuses and arrestors Installing non-expulsion fuses

Undergrounding

Design standards

Vegetation management programs

Hydraulic recloser replacement

Underground distribution and transmission lines

New design standards in elevated fire risk areas, such as more insulation, pole loading, ROW width, etc.

Inspecting and investigating all transmission/distribution lines over a set time frame, with more regular inspections in high-risk fire areas.

Enhancing the ability of the control centre to control auto-reclosing.

Early fault detection Using equipment such as radio sensors or other early monitoring technology to listen for abnormal frequencies that indicate potential problems.

Recloser sensitivity Adjusting recloser sensitivity can help improve the overall management of reclosers.

5.2 Managing operational activities

In addition to potentially damaged powerline ignitions, activities undertaken by utility crews have the potential to cause ignitions. For example, driving a truck or ATV through tall grasses or using power tools such as a grinder can cause sparks. To address this potential and the associated risk, standard operating procedures are often established for operating equipment or vehicles in high-risk areas and at times that could result in an ignition. These procedures can integrate current and forecast high fire danger periods (see Section 5.3 Situational Awareness ).

5.2.1 General operational practices

Lift trucks, borers, and other large equipment performing vegetation management or other operational functions in and around forested and grassland areas can generate highly flammable fine organic material. This material and vehicle exhaust system heat pose an ignition risk.15 Likewise, organic material that accumulates around ATVs’ exhaust systems can overheat and fall off, igniting dry grass or other highly flammable vegetation. ATVs are not recommended in high-fire-risk zones when fuels are receptive to ignition due to low fuel moisture.

Chainsaws, cutting tools, mowers, welding tools, and other equipment can create sparks during regular use. Proper handling and maintenance of such equipment is critical for preventing wildfire ignitions and mitigating fire impacts.

Companies have considered integrating or have already integrated wildfire ignition prevention practices into standard operating procedures for equipment and operational activities. The following activities, listed in Table 3.0, are some of the activities to help prevent and mitigate wildfire ignitions from equipment:

Table 3.0 Large vehicles, ATVs and Light Equipment practices to prevent wildfire ignitions

Equipment

Large vehicles and ATVs

Large vehicles, ATVs, chainsaws, other gasoline operated equipment

Chainsaws, other vegetation removal equipment

Large vehicles, ATVs, chainsaws, other gasoline operated equipment

5.2.2 Hazardous material

Activity

Clear debris from the exhaust system before daily use.

Install heat shields.

Do not park vehicles in dry fine fuel zones. If not possible, spray the area with water to create an acceptable parking location.

Refuel at designated locations and not in forested areas whenever possible.

Heavy equipment and vehicles must be equipped with onboard firefighting equipment as regulated in provinces and territories.

Maintain equipment to manufacturers’ specifications.

Install spark arrestors on exhaust systems.

Refuel on mineral soil or asphalt/concrete surfaces whenever possible and ensure fire suppression equipment is available when refueling.

Check for metal wires, nails or other similar items that may be embedded in vegetation or the immediate area and remove them to avoid sparks during chainsaw operation.

Remove or pre-wet flammable fuels from operating areas where sparks or arc flashes are a threat.

Hazardous materials (i.e., chemical agents, gasoline, oil, etc.) may accelerate the spread of an existing fire or facilitate the start of a new fire. All utilities must be familiar with hazardous products on their worksites and the Hazardous Product Act (HPA) and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS). Hazardous materials should always be stored in a safe and secure location, in accordance with regulatory requirements governing the handling, use and storage of such materials. Inventories of all hazardous materials are recommended so that locations of PCB related transformers or oil cooling transformers can be relayed to the responsible authority in command of fire suppression activities.

5.2.3 Documenting and analyzing wildfire incidents

Despite implementing wildfire risk reduction activities, powerline operations may still ignite wildfires. In some jurisdictions, utilities have begun to record wildfire data, outages, and faults to determine trends in incident occurrences. The goal is to find existing trends in the data that can inform specific activities to mitigate future wildfire incidents. Acting on these incidents will evolve as their causes and trends are more precisely defined and/or mitigation actions are trialled, implemented, or evaluated. These datasets increase a utility’s ability to:

• identify the underlying causes of wildfire ignitions,

• analyze patterns of outages and faults, and

• cross-examine mitigation actions with trends in wildfire ignitions.

Identified tactics include:

• Establishing an incident reporting framework and protocol to guide data gathering during a wildfire. Information to be gathered, at minimum, should inform companies of the following:

• Date & time of wildfire ignition,

• Location,

• Atmospheric conditions (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed & direction) and fire weather indices,

• Vegetation (fuel type),

• Impacts of the event,

• Incident cause,

• Images of the event (if the site is safe).

• Preparing a periodic report to document and communicate incident analysis results to support continuous improvement.

• Establish a list of qualified professionals capable of completing wildfire investigations if additional investigation or analysis is required.

5.2.4 Vegetation management

Vegetation within and adjacent to the rights-of-way and other infrastructure can serve as both an ignition source (e.g. from falling trees) and a catalyst for fire spread. Vegetation should be managed for wildfire for two general reasons:

• Tree intrusion: prevent trees from falling or growing into lines; and,

• Rights-of-ways (ROW): reduce the likelihood that a spark will cause a fire on the ROW.

Tree intrusion hazards are monitored and addressed within vegetation management programs. Vegetation or other material contacting transmission and distribution lines will damage them and create ignition risk. Utilities are implementing monitoring plans with more frequent inspection and maintenance in areas of higher wildfire risk.

Right-of-ways are maintained to reduce their capacity to facilitate wildfire spread. Specific maintenance may vary by geographic region, surrounding fuel environment, and proximate values. This level of maintenance provides two benefits:

• Reducing the likelihood of wildfire spread should an ignition start in one of these areas; and,

• Enable ROW to act as fuel modifications– areas that could help slow the spread of a fire.

Utilities are considering and acting upon the following activities globally to reduce the likelihood of igniting and spreading wildfires through vegetation management (Table 4.0). Vegetation removal in ROW, around infrastructure assets, and on utility-owned/managed land should be prioritized to reduce wildfire risk while meeting legal and regulatory requirements defined by each province/territory.

Activity

Widening of the ROWs to reduce tree intrusion hazards (including widening of existing ROWs to provincial/territorial standards).

Fuel hazards (tree trimmings/slash) are removed from ROW.

Removal of hazardous trees that pose risks to impacting transmission or distribution lines.

Table 4.0 Example Vegetation Management Activities

Tree trimming occurs to prevent trees from growing up into the lines, falling onto the lines, or encountering lines. Tree trimming occurs at appropriate intervals based on vegetation growth rates, as growth rates will vary by region due to tree types, precipitation, and soil content. Tree trimming is maintained at a minimum distance as identified in “NERC FAC-0034 Transmission Vegetation Management” and “ANSI A300 Standard for Integrated Vegetation Management” or a greater distance as appropriate.

Prohibiting open burning of vegetation debris during the wildfire season. Any use of burning vegetation material must strictly adhere to provincial/territorial regulations.

Prioritizing these activities in higher wildfire risk areas.

5.3 Situational awareness

Wildfire ‘situational awareness’ refers to comprehending a given circumstance (such as weather conditions), gathering relevant information, analyzing it, and making informed decisions to successfully address any potential risks, hazards, or fire events that might occur.

Daily and weekly preparedness planning and situational awareness among utility staff are critical for preventing and mitigating negative fire impacts. Creating and maintaining situational awareness of the fire environment and required utility actions is achieved using the following methods:

• Daily fire and weather situation reporting,

• Forecasting fire weather and fire behaviour to enable planning,

• Monitoring for wildfire ignitions and preparing utility response actions,

• Systemising fire weather and behaviour forecasts with operational decision-making processes.

5.3.1 Monitoring current and forecasted fire risk and predicted fire behaviour

Developing an understanding of wildfire behaviour potential based on current and forecast weather and fuel conditions and the impact these conditions will have on utility operations is essential for transparent decisionmaking processes based on wildfire science.

Access to advice from wildfire behaviour professionals to assist with their understanding of fire weather and wildfire behaviour potential will facilitate monitoring techniques.

Daily conditions monitoring and communications

Daily situation reports within the utility contain information summaries critical to effective communication about wildfire threats to all appropriate staff, including:

• Summaries of Fire Weather Index (FWI) System indicators,

• Provincial/territorial area restrictions, fire bans or fire alerts/watches/warnings,

• Daily forecast wildfire weather and behaviour indices (such as those provided by the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System16) and strategic risk assessment maps,

• Locations where operations must be limited due to the high risk of ignition,

• Communication channels for company personnel, fire services, and the provincial/territorial Incident Command in the case of wildfires on the landscape.

Information described in daily situational reporting connects the observed or forecast data and a pre-defined, appropriate understanding of risk, which can then support intentional and focused risk mitigation actions.

Communication of these daily situational reports includes the following internal staff within electricity providers (Table 5.0):

Table 5.0 Advised daily internal communications channels for wildfire situational awareness

Internal situational awareness communication channels

Communication of daily wildfire monitoring and activities, including outage areas, availability of assets, etc.

Field crews must have emergency contacts, supervisor, and control center numbers available at all times.

All utility crews operating in the field must have a form of communication (i.e., cell phones or satellite phones).

Create a communications plan internally to establish the proper chain of command for specific activities, such as deenergization.

Several utilities combine their strategic wildfire risk assessments with current information about fire weather and fuel moisture in their operating areas to inform operational activities. Accessing data that supplies information on fuel moisture conditions is a recommended activity for understanding the receptivity of vegetative fuel to wildfire ignition and spread. Using national and/or provincial/territorial datasets is a recommended practice.

The Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System (CFFDRS) is Canada’s national system for rating fire danger. It includes all guides to evaluating fire danger and predicting fire behaviour, such as the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System and the Canadian Forest Fire Behaviour Prediction (FBP) System.

Figure 2.0 shows a schematic of the CFFDRS, the FWI System, and the FBP System structure.

The primary tool for tracking and mapping fuel moisture conditions is the FWI System. This system generates a set of six daily indicators (i.e., three codes and three indexes) that provide relative ratings of fuel moisture and potential fire behaviour. This information is based solely on weather variables and is produced every day.

In addition, utilities using a wildfire management agency’s (i.e., provincial forestry services) indicators must be aware of the potential for differences between the national and provincial FWI. Generally, utility operations make decisions based on consultation with provincial or territorial wildfire management agencies.

Figure 2.0 Canadian Fire Weather Index System Structure17

Additional daily situational updates and reports can be accessed from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) and by liaising with individual provincial fire management jurisdictions. These daily situation reports contain summary information about ongoing fires, fire weather, and fuel moisture conditions, predicted fire behaviour on a given day, fire bans and area closures, resource commitments, and anticipated resource limitations for fire response.

Advanced modelling methods are also pursued by some utilities to predict the potential for daily fire behaviour. These modelling methods will require expert validation to ensure they are reliable. Fire management agencies in Canada use operational daily fire occurrence prediction models. These are based on analysis of historical fire records and could be used by utilities through collaborations with fire researchers, wildfire management agencies and/or professional wildfire behaviour experts.

5.3.2 Monitoring for detection

Wildfires ignited by damaged powerlines can spread and impact values at risk on the land base. In contrast with ignition prevention management practices, utilities have limited ability to influence events after an ignition has occurred, regardless of the ignition source. Rapid detection of wildfires ignited within the ROW has the potential to reduce suppression response time which improves the likelihood that resources can contain wildfire spread before it grows beyond resource capabilities. Rapid detection also enables emergency response and utility companies to have more time to execute emergency response plans and make appropriate decisions.

Across Canada, the most likely mechanisms for the detection of wildfire varies. In general, detection occurs by three primary methods:

• Fire lookout towers and/or loaded18 patrols (within high-risk fire areas),

• Unplanned detection (i.e., public identification through 911), or

• Remote sensing imagery.

Active wildfire monitoring

Active wildfire modelling may also serve as an early warning tool to alert electricity companies of potentially damaging wildfires that disrupt, destroy, or otherwise impact powerline or other infrastructure or operations. Early warning of potential damages will enable utility companies to understand and organize a rapid and effective response.

The following practices support electricity providers in their selection and monitoring of relevant sources of wildfire information during the ongoing wildfire season to assist with their operations:

• Develop a framework to observe the current provincial wildfire status and monitor for wildfires burning in proximity to company infrastructure.

• Secure more detailed fire spread information to inform operational decisions.

• Example sources of information include the provincial/territorial wildfire status or information dashboard/ website.

• Establish and maintain communication channels with provincial/territorial wildfire management agencies and/or municipal fire department(s) to establish emergency contact information and support the flow of information in the event of a wildfire in the area.

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is a nascent technology for wildfire detection and monitoring. Several companies use deep learning models to verify and classify fires in real-time. Once a fire is confirmed by the system the information is quickly disseminated to critical personnel for appropriate action. AI solutions are often deployed in more remote locations.

5.3.3 Utility control center operations

Utilities are considering, and some have implemented operational responses and practices during times of high fire risk in control centre operations. Actions can include scenarios such as disabling automatic reclosing when current or forecast FWI thresholds exceed risk tolerance. As wildfire risk increases throughout the fire season, the control room should re-evaluate the situation and adjust operational activities to mitigate ignition risk. Ideally, pre-set responses to wildfire weather and hazard thresholds will enable fast and transparent decision-making.

De-energization of powerlines contain the following:

• A defined fire weather monitoring system that will be used in the decision-making process.

• Accurate and timely fire weather monitoring and situational awareness are essential for the de-energization decisionmaking process.

• A transparent and scientifically informed risk index outlining de-energization thresholds and protocols to follow to initiate de-energization.

• A post-de-energization response plan to efficiently restore power as quickly as possible after a de-energization event, and

• Completed simulations of de-energization events to ensure the effectiveness of developed protocols.

In extreme circumstances, two types of network de-energizations are considered:

1. Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) – Proactive action taken in response to forecasted extreme fire weather conditions in areas where an ignition has the potential to lead to a catastrophic fire.

• The decision to implement a PSPS is often dependent on asset condition or asset health, real-time monitoring of daily fire weather and fuel moisture as well as insights from strategic fire risk assessments.

• If a utility implements a PSPS, they should provide information and consultation with potentially affected communities down the line. Consultation with generation providers, stakeholders and major customer groups are critical in the successful adoption and acceptance of such mitigation efforts.

2. Emergency Power Shutoff (EPS) – A reactionary tactic where lines are de-energized in response to an approaching wildfire where an energized line could jeopardize the safety of the public or emergency response crews.

• EPS in response to wildfire risk is generally a last resort mitigation strategy and procedures detailing this approach should be outlined and documented for all staff. Staff should undergo training on when de-energization is appropriate.

• Proactive de-energization should occur whenever water bombers will be dropping water in the immediate area of transmission and distribution lines, and when emergency personnel are undertaking wildfire control in the immediate area of powerlines.

De-energizing lines will ultimately rest with the system operator in most cases and involves the following personnel:

1. On site-assessment of the situation by field personnel, including consideration of the de-energization impact will have on customers,

2. Approval from the responsible executives of the utility,

3. Confirm that all fire crews are clear of lines. Before re-energization takes place, an inspection of impacted lines should be undertaken.

5.3.4 Monitoring wildfire risk mitigation implementation

Several companies impacted by wildfires have developed performance metrics and monitoring programs to document their wildfire prevention and mitigation activities in recent years. Monitoring wildfire risk mitigation activities is critical in ensuring the effectiveness of investments in risk mitigation programs and achieving desired results. Wildfire risk mitigation monitoring can be categorized into three categories:

• Wildfire objectives monitoring: Systemized, short-term monitoring of the progress of specific wildfire risk mitigation objectives,

• Enterprise wildfire risk monitoring: Systemized, long-term monitoring of the cumulative effects of wildfire risk mitigation and,

• Enterprise wildfire risk maturity modelling: Systemized, long-term monitoring on the overall maturation of a wildfire risk management system. For example, understanding if the risk mitigation program is adapting, improving, and filling in known gaps.

Monitoring program development and corresponding implementation methods will depend on the initiatives undertaken by each utility company.

5.3.5 Designing and implementing data management systems

Developing a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan will produce a significant amount of qualitative, quantitative, and geospatial datasets for companies to manage. Utilities establish sound data management practices to efficiently understand the type and quantity of data they possess, where to access the data and its specific applications. This, in turn, empowers utility companies to gather and analyze data to support strategic planning initiatives efficiently.

Utilities develop organized data storage to further facilitate the communication of critical information within and between organizations. Sound data management will also facilitate utility companies’ incorporation of lessons learned from past implementation, improving overall program performance over time.

5.4 System hardening

Within the context of this guide, system hardening is defined as implementing wildfire risk mitigation actions to protect utility infrastructure against damages from an encroaching wildfire (building to or exceeding a standard or a newly defined standard). Two types of system hardening can be employed:

• Passive protection: Protection provided by fireproof or resistant construction material, infrastructure design, and/or through modification of the environment prior to a wildfire event; or

• Active protection: Protection provided by the installation of systems (e.g., sprinklers) that are not typically installed on infrastructure but are employed immediately prior to or during a wildfire event. Active protection is generally carried out by emergency response crews. This is likely only going to be applied to more valuable and critical infrastructure.

System hardening actions can vary greatly. Utilities have been known to perform a risk identification process for infrastructure that examines wildfire risk factors such as vulnerability and exposure thresholds to wildfire hazards. Some companies also consider the cost and difficulty of replacing infrastructure:

• Review the utility’s wildfire risk analysis to identify high-risk wildfire areas where the threat to infrastructure is high;

• Review the utility’s asset management monitoring and maintenance plans and identify assets that are vulnerable to wildfire hazards (e.g. vulnerable to flame, smoke or ember impacts);

• Rank utility assets according to their priority to the utility (e.g. system relies on asset being operational, high cost to replace asset, difficulty to replace asset); and

• Align system hardening design and technical upgrades with the above information.

Table 6.0 below gives examples of some system-hardening passive protection actions. These practices should be focused on situations of higher risk (as discussed in Electricity Canada’s Wildfire Risk Assessment Framework document, specific to the understanding of wildfire risk to infrastructure and operations).

System hardening activity

Pole replacement

Insulator types

Line accessories

Minimum distance

New technology assessment

Underground powerlines

5.5 Personnel training

Description

Encourage the use of fireproofing practices at the construction stage, and the proactive replacement of poles will reduce the potential for failures that could act as ignition sources.

Ceramic and glass insulators may be preferred.

Limit the use of rubber/polymer.

With new construction builds establish a minimum distance between lines.

Annually assess new technology to support wildfire risk mitigation goals.

Drastically reduces the likelihood of lines being impacted by wildfire.

Utility personnel and their activities are a potential source of ignition; however, they can also assist with the protection of physical assets. It is important to note that even the smallest action is relevant, and due diligence must be taken to mitigate wildfires. Structured training and education on prevention and mitigation practices are often conducted annually and are highly recommended prior to the fire season.

Utility companies are not suppression agencies, and employees are not intended to suppress wildfires that escape control. However, there is potential to train staff to respond to wildfire events safely and effectively. Utilities should develop protocols to guide operations and responses in the event of a wildfire burning adjacent to or toward utility infrastructure. Some utilities may equip field crews with wildfire suppression equipment; however, it is highly recommended to develop standard operating practices in which situations it is appropriate to use this equipment. Utilities often seek advice from provincial/territorial wildfire management agencies on regulatory requirements, appropriate response situations, and required equipment use and training.

When it is safe, workers should protect the wildfire point of origin, if known and on utility-owned property. Protecting the site allows for wildfire investigation as the site is not compromised. If the point of origin is known but is located on non-utility-owned property, that information should be communicated to the related fire service authorities.

Standard operating practices on wildfire response also include:

• Communication protocols within the utility reporting structure as well as to provincial/territorial agencies,

• Safety actions to be taken by field crew in the event of a wildfire.

• Wildfire response protocols,

• Smoke management protocols,

• Preparedness guidelines and protocols according to situational awareness reports, and

• Safe practices in the event of wildfire.

Recommended annual training components are summarized in Table 7.0.

Training Component Description

Firefighting equipment use Field crews and site crews must be trained on fire behavior basics and proper use of firesuppressing equipment as well as techniques for preventing the spread of wildfires.

Train staff on how to use tools such as extinguishers, hand tools, and water carts safely and effectively for extinguishing and containing small fires.

Wildfire prevention Train staff on practices for preventing fire ignition, such as ensuring equipment is in proper operating order, refuelling on asphalt, conducting visual inspections of known faults, and appropriate ways to manage cigarette smoking.

Wildfire safety Staff must be informed of emergency response plans, evacuation procedures, and the required actions to take when a wildfire is within the area.

Communication protocols All staff must be informed of the proper communication channels. In addition, the utility should ensure that communication channels are up-to-date, posted at all facilities, and easily accessible to all field crews.

The following education videos are optional and can be considered in the training package for specified staff:

1. An Introduction to the Canadian Fire Weather Index System (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdeMcBCQJA);

2. Introduction to Fire Behavior (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB4pk91yq24);

5.5.1

Contractors

Companies employing contractors often ensure that the contractors adhere to the same wildfire mitigation practices that the electricity provider would follow for their staff. Contractors may be hired for vegetation management and/or power restoration. In either case, the utility often asks the contractor for relevant documented mitigation practices or performs an audit of their wildfire mitigation practices.

Utility management should request that wildfire practices be followed within the contractor agreement before engaging with any relevant contractor. This function often rests with the contract management team.

5.5.2 Communication with partners

Wildfire risk is a shared responsibility between individual members of the public and private and public organizations. Companies are developing external communications plans. Communication should be established with the following three main communication channels:

• Utility company to municipalities and government,

• Industry communication,

• Industry to property owners.

Electricity providers should form partnerships with wildfire services and provincial/territorial, municipality, and First Nation/Indigenous governments and governing bodies in their jurisdiction to build plans that protect utility assets from wildfire and mitigate the ignition of wildfires from utility assets. They should maintain detailed communication plans to inform wildfire services and/or at-risk communities of de-energization plans to reduce the impacts.

• Communicate critical infrastructure locations and requirements with agencies and governing bodies to enable suppression/protection prioritization during a wildfire incident.

• Engage and foster positive relations with municipal organizations to solicit support and facilitate communication of utility wildfire risk around identified at-risk communities.

• As high-risk fire areas are identified throughout the fire season, communities should be engaged to communicate the potential for de-energization events.

• Information sessions should occur in at-risk communities and be maintained in publicly accessible locations to enable understanding of the potential risks and situations that may result in a de-energization event.

• Ensure utilities have access to the wildfire command centre to inform or assist the first responders of any critical assets in the path of the fire and/or assist with mitigation efforts on those assets.

• Participate in cross-training exercises with first responders and/or provincial suppression resources to establish or maintain safe and effective operational response protocols in the event of a wildfire burning near powerlines.

• Utilities should communicate with stakeholder groups and partners about their operational procedures for preventing wildfires and responding to active fires.

• Develop fuel management programs with communities and governments to target areas with industry assets.

• Identify and explain mitigation plans to communities, from system hardening to vegetation management, and how they can help support these initiatives.

Intra-industry and inter-industry communications are important for the transfer of knowledge and information between industries. Companies in some jurisdictions are:

• Developing or participating in working groups where there are multiple electric utility companies in an area,

• Identifying opportunities for continuous learning from industry, academia, conferences, advisory boards, or other authoritative sources regarding powerline wildfire risk management.

• Identifying potential industries whose operations may negatively influence powerline wildfire risk, build positive relationships, and share knowledge with these industries to reduce the risk.

• Developing planning guidelines to help other industries reduce wildfire risk to and from electrical infrastructure.

Private property owners can also receive supportive information and communications with utilities. Clear and concise communication could reduce wildfire risk to both private property and electrical utility companies. Electricity providers have begun to develop outreach strategies to inform members of the public regarding their role in wildfire risk management and how they can support utility wildfire risk reduction (e.g. reporting tree intrusion potential, maintaining private land close to ROW, etc.).

Appendix A: Recommendation summary

Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan recommendation summary

Recommendation

Develop a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan

Core principles

Plan components

Summary

The Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning process will enable utilities to comprehensively identify, evaluate and address wildfire risk in a systematic and transparent manner that is best suit for their operational and regulator environment.

Develop a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Plan around the provided set of core principles

WRMPs should contain the outlined components in their framework to ensure a robust plan with monitoring and reviewing components.

Identifying and Assessing Wildfire Risk Recommendation Summary

Recommendation

Wildfire risk identification

Wildfire risk analysis

Wildfire risk evaluation

Wildfire risk monitoring

Summary

Use a structured method to identify wildfire risks. Ideally, the tools used should identify the causes and consequences of risk events, as well as existing and new controls that are available.

Spatially mapping wildfire risk across a utility network provides valuable information for targeted best management practices in this guide.

Analyze the risks to understand current and potential controls and their potential influence on the wildfire risk.

Identification of the risk situations that will warrant action and priority, these then being the focus of mitigation actions. (i.e., sagging lines, vegetation encroachment, etc.)

Formally tracking risk mitigation actions and regularly reporting on success metrics.

Appendix B: Action summary

Asset management and vegetation action summary

Action

Ensure established practices for risk monitoring and mitigation are built into company procedures and programs.

Vegetation management – tree intrusion

Vegetation management – right-of-way vegetation and fuels

Situational awareness action summary

Action

Wildfire expertise

Maintain daily situational awareness

Summary

Create standard operating procedures for operating equipment or vehicles in areas that may start a fire during wildfire season - consider current and forecast high fire danger periods.

Regularly inspect and maintain vegetation within and adjacent to right-of-ways to reduce the potential for intrusion on the lines. Prioritize monitoring and maintenance in higher-risk situations.

Regularly inspect and maintain right-of-ways and vegetation around electrical infrastructure. Prioritize monitoring and maintenance in higher-risk situations.

Monitoring for detection and response

Summary

Access advice from wildfire behaviour professionals to assist with utility understanding of fire weather and wildfire behaviour potential.

Access fire weather and wildfire behaviour potential information from national and/or provincial sources. Align this information with utility wildfire risk assessment outcomes and determine risk tolerance thresholds and appropriate response actions.

Communicate daily reports to ensure staff maintain situational awareness.

Invest in rapid detection methods in high-risk wildfire areas where appropriate. Actively monitor current wildfires for threat to infrastructure, and:

• Develop a framework to observe the current provincial wildfire status and monitor for wildfires burning in proximity to utility infrastructure.

• Example sources of information include the provincial/territorial wildfire status or information dashboard/website.

• Establish and maintain communication channels with provincial/territorial wildfire management agencies and/or municipal fire department(s) to establish emergency contact information in the event of a wildfire in the area.

De-energisation of powerlines

• Define the fire weather monitoring system that will be used in the decisionmaking process.

• Accurate and timely fire weather monitoring and situational awareness is essential for the de-energization decision-making process.

• Develop a transparent and scientifically informed risk index outlining de-energization thresholds and protocols to follow to initiate deenergization.

• Develop a post-de-energization response plan to efficiently restore power as quickly as possible after a de-energization event, and

• Complete simulations of de-energization events to ensure the effectiveness of developed protocols.

System hardening action summary

Actions

System hardening actions can vary greatly. It is recommended that a risk identification process for infrastructure be performed that examines wildfire risk factors such as vulnerability and exposure thresholds to wildfire hazards. Utilities might also consider the cost and the difficulty of replacing infrastructure.

Personnel training action summary

Actions

Contractors

General operating practices

Hazardous materials

Summary

• Review the utility’s wildfire risk analysis to identify high-risk wildfire areas where the threat to infrastructure is high,

• Review the utility’s asset management monitoring and maintenance plans and identify assets that are vulnerable to wildfire hazards (e.g. vulnerable to flame, smoke or ember impacts),

• Rank utility assets according to their priority to the utility (e.g. System relies on the asset being operational, high cost to replace an asset, difficulty to replace asset), and

• Align system hardening design and technical upgrades with the above information.

Summary

Any electricity provider employing contractors should ensure that the contractors adhere to the same wildfire mitigation practices that the company would follow for their own staff.

It is recommended that utilities integrate wildfire ignition prevention practices into standard operating procedures for equipment and operational activities.

All utilities must be familiar with hazardous products on their worksites and the Hazardous Product Act (HPA) and the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS).

Analyzing and documenting wildfire incidents action summary

Action

Develop an internal data system that enables the utility to document and analyse wildfire incidents for continual improvement.

Summary

• Establish an incident reporting framework and protocol to guide data gathering in the event of a wildfire.

•

• Prepare a periodic (e.g., annual) report to document and communicate incident analysis results in support of continuous improvement (i.e., wildfire response lessons learned).

• Establish a list of qualified professionals capable of completing wildfire investigations if additional investigation or analysis is required.

Communication with partners action summary

Action Summary

Creating an external communications plan for the three main groups of stakeholders.

• Utilities can take many proactive actions to be active members of provincial/territorial and local communities and reduce wildfire risk and the impacts of utility wildfire risk reduction activities.

• A communications plan should encompass municipalities and government, as well as other industries and property owners.

Monitoring wildfire risk mitigation implementation action summary

Action

All utilities should develop performance metrics and monitor programs to document their wildfire prevention and mitigation activities.

Summary

Monitoring program development and corresponding methods of implementation will depend on the initiatives undertaken by each utility company. Monitoring could focus on three categories:

• Wildfire objectives monitoring

• Enterprise wildfire risk monitoring

• Enterprise wildfire risk maturity modelling

Designing and implementing data management systems action summary

Action

Develop data management practices and processes

Summary

• Utilities should establish sound data management practices to efficiently understand the type and quantity of data they possess, where to access the data, and understand the specific applications of the data.

• Data management systems should enable recommendations in 5.2.3 Documenting and analyzing wildfire incidents

Appendix C: Regulatory aspects

Canada has various Federal and Provincial Regulations concerning wildfires and land use in areas that may require wildfire risk mitigation activities. Some provinces and territories have industry-specific regulations, particularly in western Canada, where wildfires have been more prevalent. All utilities must follow the laws and requirements under their respective provincial wildfire acts. The following table identifies specific operational impacts for utilities in their respective jurisdictions.

Act/Regulation

Canada Canada National Parks Act 2000

First Nations and Métis

British Columbia BC Wildfire Act Wildfire Regulation, BC Reg 38/2005, s 10

Alberta Forest and Prairie Protection Act, RSA 2000, c F-19

Last Amended: June 2019

Powerlines may traverse national parks governed by the Canada National Parks Act. The Act establishes the federal government’s authority for planning and land use management objectives for National Parks within Canada.

Powerline infrastructure on First Nations and Métis land can be subject to different requirements. Utility companies are, therefore, required to understand the legislation and requirements to operate on First Nations and Métis territory.

Utility transmission operation within 300 m of forest or grassland must reduce the likelihood of producing an ignition source and maintain the site in a manner that prevents any fire from spreading

Additional requirements for industrial activities include precautions, fire hazard assessment and abatement, and fire control.

Agreements for the Reduction and Prevention of Wildfires in the Forest Protection Area

Last Amended: March 29, 2017

Commercial operation on public land or within one kilometer must:

At the request of a forest officer, submit a satisfactory fire control plan

Have firefighting equipment capable of controlling and suppressing any fire that may occur directly or indirectly as a result of the operation on or near (1 km) public lands

The agreement establishes obligations designed to minimize the occurrence and severity of wildfires in the Forest Protection Area of the Province of Alberta, which can result when electric powerlines are down or damaged by trees or by other means.

BC Wildfire Service

Alberta Wildfire

Electric Utilities Act 2020

Municipal Government Acts 2000

Public Lands Act

The Act provides the underlying framework for the regulation of Alberta’s electric industry. The Act establishes the Independent System Operator (AESO), setting out its powers and duties. The AESO is responsible for the safe, reliable, and economic planning and operation of the Alberta Interconnected Electric System, including access to the interconnected power grid. This Act also establishes the Balancing Pool, which is responsible for managing certain generation assets, payments, as well as forecasting revenues and expenses. While wildfire risk management is not discussed, any potential action taken to reduce risk must not contradict the Electric Utilities Act.

Developments that are conducted within municipalities are governed by the Municipal Government Act, which establishes authority for municipalities to lead municipal planning and development initiatives. Municipalities are often involved with FireSmart initiatives. Potential opportunities may exist for utility companies whose powerlines are located within municipalities to collaborate and share wildfire risk responsibilities

The Act establishes the role of the Alberta government in managing public land. The Act and its regulations also control public land use through the establishment of public land use zones, recreation areas, and trails. The Act provides for appropriate use and management of public land and for the classification of the public land base in Alberta.

Powerline Hazard Assessment Plan (PHAP):

The PHAP is applicable to all new powerline builds within Forest Protection Areas (FPAs) and can assist with strategic siting on new powerline locations to avoid hazardous areas.

Act/Regulation

Forest Act/ Timber Management Regulations

2021

The Wildfire Act

SS 2014, c W-13.01

Manitoba Hydro The Wildfires Act

CCSM c W128

Came into force: March 31, 2015

The Forest Act provides for and defines the powers of the Lieutenant Governor and Minister with respect to establishing regulations related to forestry in Alberta. While not specific to powerline vegetation, potential fuel management treatments outside of rights-of-way will be subject to the Forest Act.

Industry liable Saskatchewan Spatial Fire Management System

Last Effective date: March 1, 2019

May suspend machine-based operations within a burn permit area.

Wildfire Program

Ontario Forest Fires Prevention Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.24

Quebec Sustainable Forest Development Act, Forest Protection Regulation, CQLR, c. A-18.1, r.10.1 sections 5.8

Came into force: March 16, 2019

Liable through staff actions Removal of flammable debris

Last Updated: June 1, 2019 Non-specific

Ontario Forest Fires

New Brunswick Forest Fires Act

RSNB 2014, c 110,

Last Updated: March 7, 2018

equipment

Nova Scotia Forests Act

Forest Fire Protection Regulations NS, Reg 55/87, 23(2) and 40

Prince Edward Island Fire Prevention Act

RSPEI 1988, c F-11

Last Amended: April 1st, 2015

Utilities must have fire-fighting equipment available when operating within 1000 ft. of a forested area Fire Weather Forecast

Last Updated: June 28, 2019 Non-specific Fire Information

SOPFEU

Forestry Act Forest Fire Regulations

CNLR 11/96

Yukon Forest Protection Act Forest Protection Regulation (2003), YOIC 2003/57

Northwest Territories Forest Protection Act, RSNWT 1988, c F-10,

Came into force: June 9, 2004 Non-specific

Came into force: November 24, 2004 Non-specific

Last Updated: May 20, 2010

Where directed to do so by the Forest Supervisor, an industrial operation may be required to clear and keep clear flammable material in the space surrounding the site.

Forest Fires

Yukon Forest Fire Report

Nunavut

Appendix D: Reference material

A wide array of wildfire reference material in support of wildfire risk management can be found below:

Fire Smart Protection:

• Guideline for Wildfire Protection of Institutional Buildings in Forested Regions in Alberta

• https://www.alberta.ca/assets/documents/tr/tr-wildfireprotection.pdf

• FireSmart Canada – General Resources

• https://firesmartcanada.ca/resources/

• FireSmart Critical Infrastructure Guide

• https://firesmartbc.ca/resource/firesmart-critical-infrastructure-guide/

• FireSmart for Industry

• https://wildfire.alberta.ca/firesmart/firesmart-industry/default.aspx

• FireSmart Guide to Landscaping, Second Edition

• https://firesmartcanada.ca/product/firesmart-guide-to-landscaping/

• National guide for wildland-urban-interface fires: guidance on hazard and exposure assessment, property protection, community resilience and emergency planning to minimize the impact of wildland-urban interface fires.

• https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=3a0b337f-f980-418f-8ad8-6045d1abc3b3

Wildfire Risk Reduction Methods:

• Wildfire Risk Reduction Methods (Electric Power Research Institute)

• https://assets.ctfassets.net/ucu418cgcnau/63fdVvKU7XfVdUnUQXUwiU/ffbf0851ad0fa55393ebf1a12cf492f5/ Wildfire_Risk_Reduction_Methods.pdf

Wildfire Mitigation – General:

• North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Wildfire Mitigation Reference Guide

• https://nerc.com/comm/RSTC/Documents/Wildfire%20Mitigation%20Reference%20Guide_January_2021.pdf

Canadian Federal Agencies:

• Electricity Canada

• Natural Resources Canada (NRC)

• Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC)

Endnotes

1 National Museum of Australia. Retrieved November 21, 2022. <https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/ black-saturday-bushfires#!>

2 https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-wildfires

3 Doubling the previous record of 7 million hectares in 1995

4 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-23/research-shows-warmer-climate-made-canada-fires-worse/102759834

5 https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/06/canada-fire-season-00104959

6 West Coast Utility Commissions Wildfire dialogue, held Friday August 16th, 2019

7 Hanes, C.C., Wang, X., Jain, P., Parisien, M.A., Little, J.M., and Flannigan, M.D., Fire-regime changes in Canada over the last half century, 2019

8 Stock, B.J., Mason, J.A, Todd, J.B., Bosch, E.M., Wotton, D.I., and Skinner, W.R., Large Forest Fires in Canada, 2002

9 Dr. Mike Flannigan, Rebuttal Evidence for AltaLink 2019-2021 GTA Exhibit X0295

10 O’Meara, Dina, “Lessons Learned from ATCO and the Fort McMurray Wildfires”, Energymag.ca, Issue 2, 2017: http://www. energymag.ca/industry-profile/lessons-learned-from-atco-and-the-fort-mcmurray-wildfires/

11 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full/10.1139/cjfr-2018-0293

12 Available: https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso:31000:ed-2:v1:en

13 Adapted from Beaver A. 2015. Wildland Fire Risk Management and Decision Making. Conference proceedings: 13th International Wildland Fire Safety Summit and 4th Human Dimensions of Wildland Fire Conference. April 20-24, Boise, Idaho. Available: https://www.iawfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Safety_Summit_2015_Proceedingsupdated-5.23.2016.pdf

14 For more information, visit: https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/background/summary/fdr

15 Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, Best Management Practices: Wildfire Prevention, 2008

16 Available: https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/interactive-map

17 Lawson, B.D and Armitage, O.B. 2008. Weather Guide for the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System. Canadian Forest Service: Northern Forestry Centre, Edmonton AB.

18 Patrol completed by wildfire crews with suppression equipment. Completed by vehicle and/or helicopter.