‘An investment B.C. has to make’: Conservatives aim to increase wildfire protection

‘An investment B.C. has to make’: Conservatives aim to increase wildfire protection

Published 4:48 pm Friday, October 2, 2026

The B.C. Conservatives are pledging to expand the province’s wildfire-fighting arsenal, saying the plan would largely pay for itself.

Interim Leader Lorne Doerkson and Penticton-Summerland candidate Tracy St. Claire met Faulder resident Joel Patan at his burned-out family home on Oct. 2.

The house and the surrounding area were destroyed by the Bald Range wildfire that erupted on Aug. 7.

“At 5:25 that evening, my neighbour texted me that there was a fire about 11 kilometres west of us,” said Patan. “By 7:05, it had reached our property. In less than two hours, we went from a plume on the horizon to driving away with everything we owned.”

With the burned forest and empty foundations behind them, Doerkson and St. Claire called for the need to change how the province deals with wildfires, from reducing wait times at emergency reception centres to being more proactive in tackling wildfire risks.

“We saw heroics during that fire, from the firefighters and first responders who fought the fire day after day and night after night, to the countless volunteers who looked after people who had been evacuated, “said St. Claire. “People came together in an extraordinary way, but we also learned where we need to be better, because this will happen again. We need to be ready for next summer, so our communities are better protected.”

The Conservatives pledged a new wildfire plan that would speed up approvals for controlled burns, invest $400 million in air tankers and create a $100-million innovation fund for earlier wildfire detection.

“The problem is a broken bureaucratic system that plagues us repeatedly, a system in which forestry treatments, controlled burns and emergency responses are treated as isolated silos,” said Doerkson.

Doerkson said the Conservatives are looking to push for more logging in areas considered high wildfire risk near communities and infrastructure, and use the money generated from selling that timber to help pay for wildfire-prevention and response measures.

In response to a question about whether the currently struggling timber industry would provide enough financial support for those efforts, as tariffs and mill closures abound, and whether taxes would have to increase to fund the remainder of the promises, Doerkson pointed to the approximately $5 billion spent fighting wildfires over the last five years.

“And when you look at the loss with respect to communities like Lytton or the fact that we’re standing in front of somebody’s home that’s gone, this is an investment that British Columbia has to make,” Doerkson said.

Other elements of the proposed action plan include standardized training, more predictable FireSmart funding, faster deployment of structural firefighters and mutual aid, and support for a national fire administration to improve co-ordination.

Asked if the B.C. Conservatives would raise taxes to cover any budget shortfall for the wildfire plan, Doerkson declined to provide a specific answer, and said that the party would be unveiling a full financial platform in coming weeks.