Editor's Note 

This article was published almost a month ago now. Since the beginning of August, the fire season has gotten worse. This year is officially the worst fire season in B.C. history as far as the amount of land that has been affected due to wildfire. The province extended the wildfire-driven state of emergency to September 15th, with previous extensions on July 19th, August 4th, and August 18th. With more than one million hectares and counting of forest burned, wildfire mitigation is one of the most important conversations to have given the damage that the province has seen this summer.

The severity of this year's wildfires put the province in a State of Emergency that's been extended to August 18th (now September 18th).

The logistics needed to put these fires out and keep people safe require hundreds of millions of dollars and lots of resources from the B.C. government, out of province governments, the federal government, the Canadian Armed forces, Mexico, Australia and now, New Zealand. 

More than 40,000 British Columbians have been forced to flee their homes, transfer to different hospitals and leave their livestock in compromising situations.

This year's wildfire season in B.C. has many people asking questions about what could have been done to prevent the amount of destruction that occurred.

What could have been done to lessen the number of firefighters risking their lives to battle hundreds of blazes. 

Despite the devastation of interface wildfires, mitigation is coming along slowly in some forested areas and not at all in others, leaving many B.C. communities severely at risk, according to professional foresters. 

“It's a no brainer. Absolutely, there are communities throughout British Columbia that are at high to severe risk because they are not doing anything,” said Garnet Mierau, senior planning forester with Forsite Consultants, a company that works with municipalities to implement forest management practices. 

After the 2003 Okanagan Mountain fire that saw the destruction of 239 homes blazed through Kelowna, the province created the Strategic Wildfire Prevention Initiative (SWPI).

It provides funding to help communities manage hazardous fuels in a two-kilometre radius around city perimeters.

Blair Stewart has been working for the City of Kelowna since 2008. When he started, his job was split between forest health (i.e. pine beetle) and fuel management.

"We've been doing fuel management here since '98, and you know, more predominantly since 2004, after the fires. We did a ton of work then," said Blair Stewart, Parks Services Manager for the City of Kelowna.

He said fuel management efforts happen in and around Kelowna almost yearly.

“In the majority of our park lands – so whether it be Knox Mountain or any other small natural area – we've basically either made sure it was done before, or it's on the books to be done right away once it's in our possession.”

Stewart and his crew go in and ensure there are no fire risks within 10 metres of a house on private property.

“(We’re) Trying to deal with that very initial perimeter of the house or buildings and then going beyond that to 30 metres, to 100 metres to even beyond.”

Significant fuel management work has been done at Knox Mountain especially – which the Kelowna Fire Department thanked them for after the July's fire at Knox.

Stewart was told that fire would have been considerably worse and harder to fight without the ongoing fuel management.

"We have at least 100 metres if not more of free and cleared area where we've opened up the canopy, so that the canopies are no longer touching each other.”

Another area that’s cleared is the base of the trees.

“We clean out all the fuels off the tree, making it difficult for a fire to get to the stage where it’s harder for the firefighters to fight.”

After removing dead and diseased trees, spacing is a huge part of their focus.

“In a natural forest for ponderosa pine, you usually are in between three and five meters between tree trunks," said Stewart.

In addition to work they are doing within their city, municipalities and regional districts are required to pay for 25% of planning costs and 10% of operational costs to manage surrounding Crown land.

However, professional consultants say the program is out of reach for many smaller towns that cannot afford their portion, while other cities refuse to invest in fuel management on Crown land, something they see as the provincial government’s responsibility.

“At the end of the day, they are getting communities to pay for activities on Crown land, and I know that doesn't sit well with a lot of people and it's an inhibitor,” Mierau said. “It stops people from playing the game…

“If you're doing it all inside your community but doing nothing on the perimeter, well that's basically Fort McMurray. They did nothing on the outside of the community and that's the result.”

Photo Credit: Submitted.Damage in Loon Lake caused by the Elephant Hill wildfire. Photo Credit: Thompson Nicola Regional District drone footage.

B.C.’s Forest Practices Board reported in 2015 that, despite new programs implemented since 2003, 10% or less of hazardous forest fuels had been treated and funding to protect at-risk communities was inadequate. The board concluded the cost of treatment is excessive, at $10,000 per hectare.

“We can never do enough,” said Kamloops-based forest consultant Bruce Morrow, who has worked in the area of fuel management since 1986 and in several Interior communities, including the City of Kamloops, Kelowna and the District of Logan Lake.

“Are we being efficient? It’s really really hard, especially because of the way the funding process works. It really doesn’t allow us to do what we want to do.”

Because of the expense of the SWPI program, regional districts that are responsible for vasts areas of land are challenged to come up with funds because of their limited tax base, Morrow said.

“The TNRD has about 120 communities that need protection and they are doing two or three per year, that’s all they can afford,” he said.

“We will never, ever ever get even part of the work done, because after five or seven years, you have to go back and maintain. We will never catch up.”

Photo Credit: BC Wildfire ServiceElephant Hill wildfire.

Parks Services Manager in Kelowna, Blair Stewart agrees that the challenge lies in smaller communities being able to afford this kind of fuel management plan.

“It’s tough because not all communities have the resources we do. We have in-house foresters, that are actually registered professional foresters that are able to do that planning and come up with the documents and apply for grants and do all that,” he said.

Next steps to fuel management he said, is having a conversation about performing fuel management on the crown land areas that surround the city.

Photo Credit: KamloopsBCNowA fire retardant-soaked hillside in Cache Creek after evacuation orders were lifted earlier this month.

When asked earlier this month what the government will do to mitigate the wildfire risk going forward, Minister for Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, Doug Donaldson said the provincial government is focused on the current emergency response to the wildfire crisis in B.C.

But he did say that government would again be looking at the recommendations laid out in the Firestorm 2003 Provincial Review that followed the last devastating wildfire season and predicted more significant and severe wildfires unless action was taken.

“What I would love for them to do is put more resources toward prevention and strategic planning at a landscape level,” Mierau said.

“You can do fuel management but it doesn't mean you're 100% prepared," said Stewart. “You have to keep looking for opportunities to get better.”