With tensions rising between residents affected by the wildfires and fire officials, Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad is looking at a solution to better respond to the blazes.
He believes a Royal Committee should be formed, which would help rebuild trust with members of the public who are defying Evacuation Orders and staying behind to protect their homes.
This was tabled previously by the BC Liberals but didn’t get much of a response from the government.
“I think there needs to be a serious look on how we fight fires. This was a recommendation we asked the NDP government to look at last year as part of their review and they decided not to do it and I think once again this summer we see the things that are happening and its time to have this review,” said Rustad.
“When these fires first started we were significantly under-resourced. When you have a fire that is 14,000 hectares and you have nine people working it plus equipment the locals could very significantly augment that type of a response and that it’s not being utilized and so people get frustrated when they see that kind of thing and think what do we need to do to be able to fight these fires better and get on them earlier so we’re not looking at a situation that we are this year with another 1.25 million hectares going up in flames.”
The situation came to a head last weekend where a protest was held outside of Burns Lake after the wildfire service order trucks carrying water suppression units to leave the area after their equipment could not be hooked up to a sufficient water source.
The relationship between the BC Wildfire Service and the public has become strained due to some people believing there are insufficient resources being allocated to some of the fires, especially some of the larger ones located in the Northwest Fire Centre including Shovel Lake and Nadina.
Rustad says there was a situation in the Cariboo last year where a family followed an Evacuation Order and left their home only to find the fire trail that eventually claimed their property was three inches wide through the grass and could have been put out with a garden hose.
“When people hear stories like that they say ‘well if I would have stayed behind’ and that is a real problem because it puts people’s lives at risk through the fire season.”
“People need to have confidence that their homes are going to be protected.”
He adds upgrading technology wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
“Back in 2003 when we had the big fire the sprinkling system, which is now called structural protection units were brand new they have now become a part of how we fight fires but it’s these types of changes that I think are going to be necessary in order to fight these fires.”
Rustad believes the key of the review is to look at issues such as how communities are engaged and whether or not a local response crew would be effective such as the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation who did something similar this year.