California fires prompt calls to improve B.C. building codes [Video]

As fires continue raging in California, there are calls here in B.C. to improve building codes to make structures more resistant to wildfire.

Felix Wiesner is a professor in the forestry department at UBC. He has been watching the California fires closely to understand the risk and how the severe fire happened so early in the season.

“We have more people living in the wildland-urban interface. We have hotter temperatures, longer summers, drier weather. In California, it’s a number of extremes coming together,” explained Wiesner.

B.C. is no stranger to wildfires, but Wiesner says building standards here need to be stepped up.

“Here in B.C., we don’t actually have strict, province-wide or even nationwide regulations,” Wiesner said.

California has very strict building codes, but they were introduced in 2022 and do not apply to homes built before that.

Wiesner says there are some things residents can do to protect their …