Ex-firefighter teams up with developer to create wildfire app

VANCOUVER — Former firefighter Aaron Kilback says his friends in Penticton used to ask him for updates on campfire bans and active wildfires, and he figured it would be easier if the information was all in one place.

So, Kilback and app developer KC Dyer teamed up about four years ago to build a mobile app that compiles active fires and fire danger ratings, evacuation alerts, and air quality reports from the provincial fire service, Environment Canada and NASA.

“We’re just two guys who wanted the B.C. wildfire data accessible quickly on our phones,” says the description of the BC Wildfire app.

The app offers several different maps of wildfires in B.C., Alberta and the western U.S., an evacuation alert map, and a mashup of wildfires across western North America. Each fire is clickable, offering details including the size and estimated cause of the fire.

“People are used to opening an application and having the information optimized,” said Kilback, adding that all the same information is found on government webpages with extra steps, but this is more accessible on a cellphone when people are camping or out in the woods.

The number of users for the app varies throughout the year but it peaks during the summer months, said Dyer

In 2018, one of the worst years for wildfires in B.C., Dyer said there were more than 40,000 installations.

More than 27,000 users have installed the app so far this year, he said.

For Anthony Ettlinger, the app means he can keep track of where his wife, Leslie Ettlinger, is working. She’s an on-call firefighter at a local fire hall and has been deployed on structure protection several times. Ettlinger, who lives outside Vernon, said the provincial wildfire service does a great job of posting information online for people using computers, but he’s had trouble loading the same information on his iPhone.

“(The app) gives me immediate access to the conditions near where I am.”

The Ettlingers moved to Canada from the U.K. in 2015 and quickly realized how prevalent and destructive wildfires can be in B.C.

“There was an actual wildfire that started not far from the house and we sort of watched in amazement as the bombers and helicopters and everybody went in,” said Ettlinger, who recently donated to the BC Wildfire app to help keep it running.

Dyer said he’s grateful it’s been a slow fire season since he and Kilback have been paying hundreds of dollars each month to keep the app running at its peak.

Last year, Google changed its pricing structure to provide a US$200 monthly credit equivalent to 28,000 free dynamic map loads.

In June, there were more than 60,000 BC Wildifre map loads, which cost them $336 after Google’s monthly credit was applied. Kilback estimates the small team who set out to create the app has paid around $14,000 out of pocket to get the app built and to keep it running