Questions raised about B.C.’s approach to prescribed burns ahead of wildfire season

Posted August 26, 2026 6:28 pm

2 min read

Questions are being raised about the B.C. government’s approach to prescribed burns to cut down on wildfire danger.

A prescribed burn was planned for this past spring for an area west of Summerland, B.C., near Faulder.

Months later, the area was among the hardest hit by the devastating Bald Range wildfire.

The prescribed burn was part of an 87-hectare risk reduction strategy, but the BC Wildfire Service has not yet confirmed whether the burn went ahead as planned.

But some say the bigger problem is scale.

“Until we start getting burns done and fuel reduction at a meaningful scale, meaning a thousand-plus hectares, we’re not going to change the outcome,” Jesse Zeman, the executive director of the BC Wildlife Federation, told Global News.

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He said government approvals are also too slow, making it harder to take advantage of narrow burn windows when the weather is suitable.

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“You want to have a whole bunch of prescribed burns in the hopper so that when the timing’s right, you can go out and do this work, but if we can’t get approvals to get burns done, we’re not going to have a bunch in the hopper,” Zeman added.

4:52 Summerland prescribed burns were in planning stage before Bald Range wildfire

Land-use, First Nations and environmental considerations all have to be worked through, adding time and complexity to the process.

“A lot of the agencies that support prescribed fire in B.C. are also struggling with capacity in terms of ushering those prescribed fires plans through,” Jane Park with the Canadian Prescribed Fire Training Program said.

Experts caution the prescribed fire alone would not have changed the outcome of the Bald Range fire, but treated areas can help.

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“It can give more opportunities for fire crews to anchor off something or guide the fire into treatment units, where they can fight fire a little bit more safely,” Mathieu Bourbonnais with the Canadian Prescribed Fire Training Program told Global News.

Proponents say that B.C. needs to move beyond small burns and put more fire on the landscape.

“The question is how do you like your smoke? Smoke in the spring and fall is what will prevent people’s houses from being lost,” Zeman said.

He said it is a calculated risk that requires more provincial funding and a greater willingness to fight fire with fire.