Firestorm Recommendations

Fuel Management is not new to BC; however, there is a renewed interest and greater focus on it since the catastrophic fire season of 2003.

After the 2003 fire season, the honourable Gary Filmon was commissioned to develop a report reviewing the summer's fire events. Among other considerations, Mr. Filmon's 2003 Firestorm Report contained a number of key recommendations with regards to Fuel Management.

Major responsibilities outlined by the report are a new undertaking that have met with substantial progress in a short amount of time. Since the 2003 Firestorm Report, a number of components addressing its recommendations have been implemented or are underway including the following four initial key steps to the Provincial Fuel Management Strategy:

1. Identification of hazards: The Provincial Strategic Threat Analysis identifies hazardous forest fuels around communities that have the potential to spot fire into Urban Interface areas.
2. Planning: Community Wildfire Protection Plans are key planning components being prepared by many local governments.
3. Fuel Pilot Projects: These are small trial areas where different fuel treatments can be explored to investigate their economic and operational viability.
4. Operational Fuel Management: These are projects generally focusing on treating plots of land with a proven treatment option. This may include large operational areas of forestland.

B.C. communities, including First Nations, are moving ahead cooperatively with the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Ministry of Forests and Range, forest industry, federal government, and Parks to treat the 1.7 million hectares identified as hazardous forest fuels in the province. These identified areas have been categorized as high, moderate, and low threat and are being prioritized accordingly.