By: Michelle Young, Copy Editor

BC summers bring an elevated risk of wildfires, exacerbated by climate change, and this summer is no exception. As of July 24, evacuation orders have been issued for multiple communities in the interior, including a fire in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, which is quickly expanding. “89 blazes” are estimated to be active across the province. 

In addition to the destruction of homes and forestry, these fires bring health risks due to smoke. Exposure to wildfire smoke can result in headaches, chest pain, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and more. The BCMJ reports that “physical impacts of climate change and environmental disasters are exacerbated by underlying health determinants such as poor housing, overcrowding, and geographic proximity to areas more prone to wildfires.” 

They add, “Indigenous communities have been overrepresented in wildfire evacuations, experiencing 42% of evacuation events, despite representing only 5% of the country’s population.” Indigenous families are also displaced and separated due to different evacuation phases. PreventionWeb explains: “The first phase includes pregnant women, the elderly, and people with medical conditions, while subsequent phases include those with lower risk. This phasing can mean elderly grandparents are evacuated first to shelters hundreds of kilometres away from grandchildren in their care.”

Though “forest fires are naturally occurring disturbances that contribute to the health and renewal of many forest ecosystems,” the Canadian Climate Institute says “fires are burning hotter and wilder as the climate warms, causing much greater destruction.” They report that as a result of the climate crisis, snowfall is trending down, “leading to drier conditions which increase wildfire risk.”

Many have reported on the potential of Indigenous knowledge and leadership to aid in controlling wildfire risk. However, they face “barriers to joining provincial response efforts due to safety regulations and protocols,” such as a consensus around what counts as enough personal protective equipment. 

As reported by Indiginews, cultural or controlled burns entail “low-intensity controlled burns, carefully planned to maintain and replenish the health of the land and its ecosystems” and reduce wildfire risk. In BC, this practice was banned in 1874 through the Bush Fire Act, which “contributed to a loss of firekeeping knowledge and impacted the ecosystems and landscape we see today,” according to BC Wildfire Service. Currently, the BC Wildfire Service is working with the First Nations Emergency Services Society to re-implement cultural burns. 

“Indigenous people have always been on the front lines because our communities are just so close to the boreal forest and other fire-prone areas.”

— Brady Highway, wildfire consultant from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation

Brady Highway, a wildfire consultant from the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, says in a video for Land Needs Guardians, “Indigenous people have always been on the front lines because our communities are just so close to the boreal forest and other fire-prone areas. Indigenous guardians are going to need to start assuming some of that responsibility for managing fire.

“What we want to protect, what we want to save for future generations, might not exactly be what the provincial priorities are.” In 2022, Highway told The Star Phoenix, “This is what I do for a living.” He added, “We can’t be waiting for the government to grant us that authority. We have to make it happen on our own.”