By Cheryl Jahn

Preparing for wildfire season early

Apr 24, 2024 | 1:52 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – Last year, 2.84 million hectares of forest fire burned in the Prince George Fire Centre and, already, there have been two evacuation alerts in the region. And it’s only April.

And the theme to the end of a summit involving 700 participants is FireSmart and being prepared. And, after last year, it’s more important than ever.

“Now it’s super important to get ahead of the fire season,” says Hannah Swift with Fire Smart BC. “While it’s already knocking on our doorstep to do the small things around your home that are going to increase the survivability of your home.”

According to Mike Norton with Natural Resources Canada, Canadians are not prepared for natural disaster, despite past fires that have destroyed and threatened entire communities.

“We need to be much more proactive in addressing risks before they occur. And really getting at those risks in an effective way requires all parts of society, governments at all levels, private sector, and not for profit and all the way down to individual homeowners and citizens, understanding what actions they that they can take.”

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Following the fires of 2017, 2018, 2021 and last year, the Province of BC is acutely aware of the risks and the City of Prince George became very honed in on preparing for wildfire. And while the provincial and federal governments know the risks, people on the ground need to be ready with the simplest things.

“Have your to-go bag packed and ready to go, know where your pets are, know your key contacts when you’re evacuating and really prepare yourself for the fire season that we have ahead of us today,” says Swift.

To date, there are 177 wildfires from April 1 to present day, 84 of which were caused by lightning, 86 were human-caused and the cause of seven is undetermined.