BC Interior politicians call for prescribed burns to deal with wildfire

Municipal politicians from B.C.’s Interior are appealing for more help from the provincial government to prevent wildfires from threatening their communities. From prescribed burns to legislative changes to allow clearing in old-growth forest areas, they expressed their concerns to representatives from the B.C. Wildfire Service at a panel hosted by the Union of B.C. Municipalities on Thursday. …“The scale caught everyone by surprise,” said Cariboo Regional District vice-chair John Massier, whose region was hard hit by this year’s fire season. Massier said there is a movement in favour of returning fire to the landscape in the form of prescribed burns. He said they work because areas that were burned 20 to 25 years ago were spared from fire this year.