Victoria, B.C.- The Forests Practices Board says all forest districts in the province have prepared fire management plans. The Board’s report concludes that the plans do provide the “basic information needed to help plan a response to a wildfire.”

 

But Board Chair, Al Gorley, says the initial plans are “narrow”. He says while they do identify dwellings, infrastructure, wildlife habitat and timber as things that are at risk, the plans need to go further to identify the local priorities for things which need to be protected. Gorley says the plans also need to identify areas where (under certain circumstances) fire may be allowed to burn.

 

"Globally, we see a trend toward more severe and costly fires," said Gorley. "Other jurisdictions have found that simply adding more fire fighting capacity alone doesn’t solve the problem. We need proactive policies and programs that account for the inevitable occurrence of fire in the forest environment."

 

One of the key factors in keeping fire fighting costs down, is an accurate fire analyses (FA) . The  FA process often takes place once a fire has escaped initial attack efforts and is growing quickly.   The FA helps managers to choose the most cost-beneficial response strategy that is reasonably available.

 

The report makes seven recommendations aimed at improving fire management planning and response and to  move the province towards a more proactive fire management system.

 

 

Gorley says the Public also needs to know that smoke and fire are “inevitable” .