I have a burning question...why isn't the provincial government doing more to make sure British Columbia's communities are prepared for wildfires? After spending six weeks investigating the issue, I learned the province isn't keeping an eye on the extent to which local governments are acting on their wildfire protection plans. In fact, dozens of communities don't even have such plans, with local officials telling me they don't have the money or manpower to prepare them.
But Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell has said local governments are responsible for those plans. So that means the province isn't responsible for solving those problems. Still, it could and should be.
After all, when the province wants to it doesn't seem to have any hesitation about treading or threatening to tread on other people's jurisdictions. For example, during its first term in office the Campbell administration actually passed legislation giving it the power to overrule local governments when they get in the way of provincially significant projects.
So that leads me back to my burning question...why isn't the British Columbia government doing more to make sure its communities are prepared for wildfires? Because right now, the province isn't giving what I think is an adequate answer.
The demolition of the B.C. Forest Service began a long time ago.
There was a Chief Forester. There were Forest Districts and there were Ranger Districts. It was a proud thing, to wear the uniform of a B.C. Forest Ranger each of whom, with staff, were trained up and prepared to fight forest fires.
It wasn't left to "the community".
The deterioration of a proud B.C. Forest Service got started with a determination to get rid of the many small family-owned "inefficient" sawmills ... by imposing heavier obligations upon them to have firefighting equipment ... possibly a political ruse to eliminate the small operators. Then came the big operators with their multi-million-dollar heavy logging machinery, like feller-bunchers. Big operators were quite capable of telling the government to take a hike.
Somewhere along the way, "forest fires" became merely "wild fires", then came the pine beetles, and if the Sooke-Jordan River area is an example, the sacred forests are being given away as real estate products.
Many devastated woodland communities must be scratching their heads and wondering why they should bother trying to repair the damage which was so knowingly inflicted, and which probably could have been prevented by leaving the original system in place. The B.C. Minister of Forests of today is probably the last person on the planet who would tell you the truth of it. Remember Robert Sommers.
Smokey the Bear (who said "Only YOU can fight forest fires") was an American invention, and... Public Eye Online is now the British Columbian version.
I'd hate to see British Columbia be another Australia, complete with the Aussie State of - wait for it - Victoria that was aflame w/ 173 fatal casualties in their summer 2009. Having public pressure from maverick journos like you Sean will keep that from happening.