By Adam Donnelly

Province announces wildfire preparedness plan in Kamloops

Mar 19, 2019 | 4:42 PM

KAMLOOPS — Wednesday marks the first day of spring, and while many of us have yet to put away our winter clothing for the year, the BC Government is already looking to the summer, and the upcoming wildfire season in the province.

On Tuesday, Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development was at the provincial wildfire coordination centre, outlining the steps the province is taking to try and mitigate the risk to residents of British Columbia.

The current wildfire danger rating in the Kamloops Fire Centre is low, but Donaldson was in town outlining his government’s preparedness plan for the 2019 wildfire season.

“Everyone is aware of the extraordinary wildfire situations we face in 2017 and 2018,” Donaldson said. “This unprecedented fire activity posed significant operational challenges in many regions of BC, resulting in back-to-back provincial states of emergency for the first time in our history.”

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The biggest step the province has taken is a 58 per cent increase in the 2019 Provincial Budget for wildfire management — from $64 million to $101 million — which Donaldson says will provide the Wildfire Service with more assets, including technology, air support, and firefighters with which to fight wildfires.

“This budget uplift of 58 per cent is going improve the BC Wildfire Service’s ability for rapid response,” Donaldson explained. “That’s really important in these conditions we face today, with wildfire behaviour being so aggressive, is getting onto these fires quickly, get onto these lightning strikes quickly, and have the ability to do that with more booths on the ground, through initial attack, and through type-2 contract crews.”

Along with more crews and equipment, the province is looking to strengthen partnerships with First Nations throughout BC on issues surrounding wildfires. That includes more training opportunities for indigenous wildfire fighters and partnering with First Nations communities to improve the effectiveness of prescribed burns.

“We recognize that First Nations traditional knowledge of the land and ecological process is a huge asset for our firefighting community,” Donaldson said. “Incorporating that knowledge and experience into our firefighting prevention and effort gives us a huge advantage.”

More money has also been made available to communities who are working to improve wildfire preparedness through the province’s Community Resiliency Investment program. FireSmart Canada also has resources communities can access to help ensure they’re ready for the upcoming fire season.

After two of the worst fire seasons on record in consecutive years, the hope is these preparedness measures reduce risks for communities across BC, and give firefighters improved tools to fight these blazes before they burn out of control.

The changes support the recommendations of the independent Abbott-Chapman report.