Questions raised about B.C.’s approach to prescribed burns ahead of wildfire season

Concerns are growing over the B.C. government's strategy of prescribed burns to reduce wildfire risk. A prescribed burn was scheduled for a tract west of Summerland, B.C., close to Faulder, in the spring. However, this area became one of the hardest hit zones during the destructive Bald Range wildfire. The prescribed burn was part of an 87-hectare risk reduction initiative, yet the BC Wildfire Service has not yet verified whether the burn proceeded as intended.

Jesse Zeman, the executive director of the BC Wildlife Federation, told Global News that until there is a noticeable increase in prescribed burns, covering at least a thousand hectares, the situation will not improve. He also pointed out that government approvals are excessively slow, hindering the ability to capitalize on brief windows of suitable weather for burning.

"You want to have a whole bunch of prescribed burns in the hopper so that when the timing’s right, you can go out and do this work, but if we can't get approvals to get burns done, we’re not going to have a bunch in the hopper," Zeman added. Multiple factors, including land-use, First Nations concerns, and environmental considerations, contribute to the time and complexity involved in the process.

Jane Park, with the Canadian Prescribed Fire Training Program, mentioned that many organizations supporting prescribed fire in B.C. also face capacity challenges in moving prescribed fire plans through. While experts agree that prescribed fire alone would not have altered the outcome of the Bald Range fire, treated areas can improve conditions.

Mathieu Bourbonnais of the Canadian Prescribed Fire Training Program told Global News that prescribed fire can provide more opportunities for fire crews to anchor off a fire or guide it into treatment units, enabling safer firefighting. Proponents argue that B.C. should shift from conducting small burns to increasing the amount of fire on the landscape.

Jesse Zeman emphasized that it is a calculated risk that requires greater provincial funding and a greater willingness to use fire to combat fire.