B.C. must learn to co-exist with wildfires as study outlines possible dire future [Video]

A new study predicts a dire future for B.C.’s wildfire situation unless major changes are made.

“In 2024, more than a million hectares burned, and we hardly spoke about it, because it seems to become the new normal, the new reality that we live with,” Lori Daniels, one of the authors and a professor of  Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia said.

The study by UBC researchers says urgent change is needed in order for British Columbians to co-exist with wildfires.

The authors say they are concerned fires like the 2021 blaze that destroyed the town of Lytton are “inevitable” and will cause greater loss of life.

The report recommends a number of actions including using more prescribed fires to eliminate fuel, de-centralizing the firefighting response and acknowledging that some fires should just be left to burn.

“The irony or the …