Just three months into wildfire season, the damage is already significant throughout British Columbia.
Since April 1, the province has recorded 437 wildfires, with 651,136 hectares burned. The fire season is calculated from April 1 to March 31 each year.
Unless conditions change quickly, this year could be one of the worst on record in the province.
A decade ago, this level of wildfire destruction would have been shocking.
The 2014 wildfire season destroyed almost 360,000 hectares and was, at the time, the third-worst wildfire season on record in the province. And in 2003, during a severe drought, more than 265,000 hectares were destroyed. This year’s fire season is already eclipsing those figures.
It should be noted that one of the most destructive fires of the 2003 season, the Okanagan Mountain Park fire, began in mid-August of that year.
Summers in the Southern Interior of British Columbia tend to be dry, and wildfire activity can pick up significantly from July to September.
While the 2003 and 2014 fire seasons were destructive, British Columbia has experienced far worse fire seasons in recent years.
The five worst fire seasons in British Columbia have occurred in recent years, with large-scale damage in 2024, 2023, 2021, 2018 and 2017. The 2023 wildfire season resulted in close to 2.9 million hectares destroyed, and the 2024 season burned 1.08 million hectares.
Based on previous summers and the data so far this year, wildfires will be a significant factor throughout the province once again.
People are already preparing grab-and-go bags in case they need to evacuate quickly.
While fire safety is important during the summer season, it should be noted that the majority of fires each year have been caused by lightning strikes rather than human activity.
In addition, studies show that climate change has played a significant role in some, if not all, of the worst recent wildfire seasons.
Any changes to the present trend of increasingly destructive wildfire seasons will require some significant action by those in leadership roles. Personal efforts by themselves will not be enough.
— Black Press
