How do we fight the bigger, hotter wildfires of the future?
Posted May 25, 2023 7:09 am.
In today’s Big Story podcast, in the last few weeks, “unprecedented” Canadian wildfires have been occurring due to the persistence of the conditions that allow our forests to burn. But we aren’t helpless.
Whether it’s earlier detection, more accurate predictions, different management approaches, or ways to get boots on the ground faster, the way we fight fires is changing, and the playbook is being written in real-time.
Dr. Mike Flannigan, a professor at Thompson Rivers University and BC Research Chair in Predictive Services, Emergency Management, and Fire Science, says that worsening wildfires are a hard reality we’ll need to contend with in the coming years.
“We’re always going to have to learn to live with fire, unfortunately. But we try to minimize the damages done to society,” says Dr. Flannigan.
Today’s Big Story covers what we’ve learned about wildfire management, and how we might keep the fires of the future from being as destructive as the ones we see today.
You can subscribe to The Big Story podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.
You can also find it at thebigstorypodcast.ca.
