Venables Valley residents undergoing wildfire training at a property in Knutsford in the summer of 2024. (Image Credit: TNRD)

By Victor Kaisar

Community Wildfire Response

Fourteen TNRD community wildfire groups funded via new provincial pilot

Jul 22, 2025 | 9:00 AM

KAMLOOPS — A grant program that allowed community groups to get training so they can help the BC Wildfire Service fight fires was oversubscribed, but the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) says no one was left wanting.

A total of 14 eligible Community Emergency Response Organizations (CEROs) applied for grant funding that the TNRD got from the Union of BC Municipalities. Applicants were eligible for up to $10,000 toward training and personal protective equipment (PPE).

While the TNRD only had sufficient funding for 11 groups, spokesperson Colton Davies said the district was able to find money for the other three.

“Our fire protection team did a really good job of finding other funding sources through the province and through Fraser Basin Council to make sure that every eligible group that applied was able to get funding even though our grant didn’t cover all of the requests we got,” Davies said.

According to a TNRD staff report, the Fraser Basin Council had some funding left over as it operated a similar program last year. It also noted that the BC Wildfire Service covered training costs for “any remaining groups” through a new program at Thompson Rivers University and that it would also supply up to 10 sets of coveralls for each group.

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Groups that received funding are located in Knutsford, Kelly Lake, Heffley Lake, Knouff Lake, Barriere Forks, Venables Valley, Lac Le Jeune, Paska Lake, Thompson Rivers Estates, Pinantan Lake Tranquille Valley, Paul Lake, Turtle Valley and Cahilty.

“My understanding is by the end of July all of these 14 groups will have completed basic wildfire training,” Davies said. “Once that’s done, if there is a fire, it’s completely up to the wildfire service on whether these teams get utilized or not.”

“We don’t have a say in that, but we’ve facilitated all the training.”

Five other groups also applied for funding but they were deemed ineligible, according to the TNRD report. It didn’t specify where they were based, but in order to be eligible, groups had to be located in a rural area of the TNRD that is not covered by a structural fire protection service.

The pilot was born out of a recommendation from the Premier’s Task Force on Emergencies, which sought to increase ways for local community involvement in wildfire response following concerns raised during the 2023 wildfire season.

“The TNRD has been a bit of poster child for this pilot program in part because of the Knutsford group who has spoken to you at committees and at other times, too,” Davies told the TNRD Board of Directors during the July 17 meeting.

“You’re well aware of the success of the Knutsford group working with BC Wildfire Service in 2023 which spurred a lot of this.”

TNRD Board Chair Barbara Roden thanked staff for being creative to ensure that all of the qualified groups that applied for money were funded.

“I think that’s a great example of partnerships working with other organizations to find funding to enable to take this initiative,” Roden said.