To the firefighters, heavy equipment operators, contractors, and local communities navigating the pressures of wildfire season: Thank you. Your front-line work protects lives, homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure across British Columbia. BC 1 Call and utility owners and operators across the province stand alongside you to ensure your operations remain as safe and swift as possible.
Understanding the Hazard: Heavy Machinery & Buried Lines
While surface fires themselves rarely affect buried pipelines or underground utilities, the movement of heavy machinery during firefighting operations presents a critical, often hidden hazard.
The Primary Hazard: Rights-of-Way (RoWs) are frequently used as tactical fire breaks or transit corridors. Heavy apparatus—including water tenders, bulldozers, excavators, and fully loaded engine crews—exert extreme wheel and track loads on the ground.
The Consequences: Crossing underground infrastructure without verified depth of cover or dedicated crossing pads can result in severe ground disturbance, pipe coating damage, utility strikes, or catastrophic pipeline ruptures.
Our Priority: Fire suppression is a vital public safety effort, and safety procedures are designed to support—never delay—your response. BC 1 Call, BC Wildfire Service, and utility owners and operators have established a streamlined emergency crossing protocol to keep crews, communities, and energy infrastructure safe.
💡 Key Takeaway for Field Personnel: Never assume buried infrastructure is deep enough to withstand heavy machinery tracks or wheels. Always initiate an emergency locate request by calling BC 1 Call at 1-800-474-6886 prior to heavy vehicle crossing or excavation operations.
Operational Field Guide: Emergency Pipeline Crossing Flowchart
When heavy equipment needs to cross a pipeline Right-of-Way (RoW) or facility, follow this decision tree to route your request with the appropriate urgency:
Ticket Categories & Response Times
Refer to this quick-reference guide when placing locate requests with BC 1 Call agents:
Contact & Emergency Support
Whenever you are preparing to move heavy rigs or conduct groundwork near pipeline corridors during wildfire suppression:
📞 Phone: 1-800-474-6886
🌐 Non-Emergency Online Request: bc1c.ca/locateme
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