UBC researchers propose six strategies for coexisting with wildfires

Earlier this year, UBC researchers from the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence released a study suggesting six interrelated strategies to help improve BC’s resilience against the impacts of wildfires. The study drew from 2023’s record-breaking fire weather, with 2245 active fires in the province.

UBC students and faculty have long called for wildfire solutionsf and the situation continues with the 2024 season ranking among the top six in the last half-century based on total area burned.

"I think it’s quite clear, based on the impacts of recent fire seasons, that the current status quo isn’t working," said Dr. Jen Baron, a postdoctoral researcher at UBCO and co-author of the wildfire coexistence study.

Here are the six strategies summarized.

Diversify wildfire response and restore prescribed and cultural fire

Fire suppression, BC’s primary strategy for handling wildfires, is a tactic where fire is controlled and extinguished immediately after it is detected by removing at least one of either heat, fuel or oxygen. Due to relying only on fire suppression for so long, BC has built up the fuel and created a uniform landscape, contributing to the severe fires BC faces now, according to the study.

To combat this, researchers suggest BC pivots to allowing fires to burn or having “managed fires” in specific locations under prescribed weather and fuel conditions.

This would lead to fires that are smaller in size. It would also benefit ecosystem resilience, diversify forests and decrease the chances of uncontrolled fires.

Researchers also highlighted the need to utilize prescribed and cultural fire, both intentional uses of fire on a specific land area, which the study described as "effective fuel reduction tools.” The Prescribed and Cultural Wildfire Program, led by BC Wildfire Service, aims to support Indigenous stewardship in cultural burning practices.

Increase capacity for suppression response

Wildfires that threaten communities and lives still require a suppression response. However, researchers suggest investing more in our current model to make it more efficient.

The new model proposed by the authors would be supported by an early-warning system predicting where extreme fires could occur. BC would also invest in local communities to mitigate their responses to wildfires, as well as help to create jobs in rural areas.

Building up local capacity for wildfires would also alleviate mistrust in government agencies and perceived need for self-reliance caused by past negative experiences during evacuations and perceptions that the government is not fixing the problem.

Mitigate risk and build resilience in communities

Programs to encourage wildfire resilience have been around since 2003. The FireSmart BC Program is an educational program that helps reduce vulnerability to wildfires via home maintenance and landscaping by offering incentives such as receiving grants for education campaigns.

BC would also invest in reducing the vegetation that would fuel fires, including mechanical thinning and the removal of residual biomass in certain types of forests. This would require a lot of work; however, researchers proposed the plant matter removed could be used for heat energy, creating jobs and an alternative fuel source in rural communities.

Implement landscape fire management

Decreasing severe fire weather would also mean moving away from the uniform landscape of “dense, even-aged conifer forests,” created in part by the timber harvesting industry.

The authors propose diversifying the landscape to reduce wildfire fuel and spread, meaning we would see an increase in the variety of wetlands, meadows, grasslands and mixed-wood forests found in BC.

There would also be a change in firesheds — areas where fires are likely to spread and be contained — to be tailored to match the land's natural features.

Transform wildfire governance

Transforming wildfire governance would require a shift in power away from a top-down, largely centralized model toward local, place-based government solutions. In doing so, rural and First Nations communities would have more say in all wildfire processes.

Strengthen and diversify training and expertise

The study stresses a need for BC to train people in more wildfire management skills, invest in learning from different perspectives and areas of expertise and seriously consider Indigenous knowledge when planning wildfire response.

Parts of this strategy are already being seen at play at UBC in establishing the Centre for Wildfire Coexistence. Additionally, UBCO offers a Fundamentals of Wildland Fire Ecology and Management micro-credential program, open to anyone interested.

What can students do?

Students don’t have to be experts to spark a change in how BC manages its wildfire response.

Beyond looking into educational programs at UBC, students can also check out websites like FireSmoke Canada, which tracks air quality related to wildfires in Canada.

Students can also influence how we manage wildfires with their votes.

“Having pressure from constituents to act on proactive management also goes a long way in supporting our leaders to take bold action,” said Baron.

“It is easy sometimes in Vancouver for people to feel distance from wildfires as an issue. It doesn't impact us as directly, but the continued escalating impacts of wildfire will eventually affect all of us. And so I think it's important, [and] it's good to be engaged.”

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