The Columbia Shuswap Regional District board agreed to just say no.
Directors voted unanimously to support recommendations by Derek Sutherland, general manager of Community and Protective Services, to opt out of providing the province鈥檚 Cooperative Community Wildfire Response Program and write a letter to Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar outlining CSRD鈥檚 concerns.
In his report to the Feb. 20 board meeting, Sutherland pointed out the program is a BC Wildfire Service initiative that is meant to address requests by some property owners to take a more active role in fighting wildfires.
Following the 2023 wildfire season, the wildfire service and the Fraser Basin Council teamed up to provide opportunities for interested members of the public to participate in wildfire response activities within the structure of the BCWS incident command system.
The program was designed to provide basic training to residents outside a fire protection area who wish to work on fires for BCWS, and provide opportunities to the trained community members to participate in patrol activities, mop up, and expediting resources.
鈥淭he program expressly forbids the suppression of wildfire, remaining in an evacuation area, and moving of BCWS equipment,鈥� noted Sutherland.
Where it went south in the eyes of the regional district is that in October 2024, interested community groups were advised that the Fraser Basin Council was no longer involved with the program and all responsibility for organization, oversight, training, funding applications and processes, and record keeping, was being passed along to the regional districts.
鈥淭his was the first time the CSRD Protective Services team had heard of the new responsibilities,鈥� wrote Sutherland in his report, noting there would be a financial hit to the regional district to administer the program. 鈥淚t is the opinion of staff that the administration of the CCWR program is being downloaded onto the regional district without consultation and represents an undue burden on the local taxpayer.鈥�
Sutherland cited other concerns: that there is no service area in the regional district associated with the program and the wildfire service offers program support only in areas without fire protection.
And, contrary to expectations of the regional district and residents who expressed interest in providing direct fire attack and initial attack support, the program only allows them to perform tasks away from the fire line.
Sutherland told directors that CSRD staff was quite excited about the way the program was framed during early conversations with BCWS when the program was being created.
鈥淚nitially we were talking about a joint program with fire service areas, but the way it was rolled out was far different than that,鈥� he said, noting members of the public would be restricted to 鈥淭ype 3鈥� activities, which include ditch digging and hard physical labour that does not meet the needs of interested members of the public. 鈥淭hese are two very, very different things, and of course there is a big concern with this not being a BCWS led program any more.鈥�
Area F North Shuswap director Jay Simpson spoke to the needs of his community that was ravaged by wildfire in 2023 and the conflict that arose with residents wanting to take part in initial attack activities. He also took issue with the fact there is no funding for people within a fire protected area.鈥�
鈥淥ur community is snake-bitten by what has happened and we鈥檙e concerned that if this happens again, the situation would be similar in terms of not having the facilities and capacity to take care of a fire in its very early stages,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where the community wants to be able to get out there and do something. This program does not cut it, and downloading onto us is just a non-starter too.鈥�
Salmon Arm director and deputy chair Kevin Flynn agreed with Sutherland鈥檚 recommendations and Simpson鈥檚 comments.
鈥淚 feel the time and energy given to the premier鈥檚 task force after the 2023 wildfire season was completely wasted,鈥� he said, noting that much time, energy and loss occurred and yet the CSRD was not listened to in an appropriate manner. 鈥淚t truly is frustrating when you see the bureaucracy giving an opportunity to provide feedback then basically ignore that input.鈥�
Area E Director Rhona Martin said she was pleased CSRD鈥檚 letter to Parmar would also be sent to all B.C. regional districts, and wanted to ensure residents were made aware of why CSRD is opting out of the program.
