Photo: Merritt Herald / Ty Lim

B.C. Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar spoke to media about B.C. wildfire fighting and prevention on March. 20 at the Merritt Fire Zone and Training Centre.

B.C.’s Minister of Forests says the Merritt Fire Zone will be welcoming a few hundred new BC Wildfire Service recruits within the next few weeks as the new trainees go through boot camp.

Ravi Parmar, who was appointed last fall to Premier David Eby’s cabinet, visited the Merritt Fire Zone and Wildfire Training Centre at 4476 Airport Rd. on Thursday — part of a larger tour of the Thompson-Okanagan region.

“We were joking that this place is very calm before the storm, because in a couple of weeks this is going to be a really busy place,” the minister said.

Parmar announced Thursday BCWS received a record number of applicants this year, closing in on nearly 1,700 people wishing to join. The month of January alone saw 578 applications filed.

Parmar said he believed the wildland firefighting service is one of the world’s best.

“This [BCWS] is an organization that people want to be a part of. British Columbians from every part of our province feel it’s a duty to be able to serve, and I think that speaks to the 1700-plus people that have put in an application and want to be a part of this team,” he said.

Last fire season, the BCWS application deadline was extended by two months as part of an effort to boost recruitment.

“As a new minister, I’m significantly concerned about what the future entails [for wildfires],” Parmar said, noting this year’s snowpack levels as one indicator of the upcoming season.

“We’re needing to adjust. Climate change is having a devastating impact on B.C. and across the world. It’s so important we are assessing, we’re innovating.”

Preparing for the worst

Parmar said the province was always preparing for the worst case scenario. He said while BCWS was increasing recruitment and using giving their wildland fighters new tools, such as nighttime goggles, they have also been looking at various ways to prevent wildfires.

“We’ve invested a record number of dollars in the Forest Enhancement Society of BC. We’re working with (First) Nations on commercial thinning, partial harvesting, selective logging — efforts for better protecting and fire-proofing our province,” he said.

“It’s clear that we have a lot of work to do, and if we look to California, it’s clear we have much more work to do to better prepare ourselves,” he said.

BCWS is currently undertaking several prescribed burns across the B.C. Interior, six of which are located in the Merritt area.

Partnership with California

Parmar said the devastation of the California fires in January has set the stage for increased cooperation internationally between wildfire fighting organizations.

BCWS sent around 35 members to assist the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) during the fires, two of which were from the Merritt area, Parmar said.

He said the B.C. government and CAL FIRE are working on strengthening their partnership through resource-sharing.

“We already have an agreement in place, and we know CAL FIRE relied on resources from across the country, from across the world, but they spoke very highly of the unique partnership that BCWS has with CAL FIRE and how we can strengthen that relationship,” Parmar said.

Representatives from CAL FIRE will be present at a training summit in Penticton next month to share their expertise.