Will this be firestorm 2007?

British Columbia saw its worst forest fires in the summer of 2003.

More than 260,000 hectares of forest were destroyed, according to a review commissioned by the provincial government. Fires encroached on Interior communities, forcing at least 45,000 people to flee from their homes. At least 334 houses and several businesses were lost. Three firefighting pilots died in the line of duty. In his Firestorm 2003 report for Victoria, former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon noted that the total cost of the wildfires was estimated at $700 million.

Could a Big One happen again?

It's a prospect that worries Gerry Zimmerman each time he sees combustible materials building up in the woodlands near Kelowna. At the height of the 2003 firestorm, he was Kelowna's fire chief, commanding hundreds of combined crews from across the province in battling blazes in and around the Okanagan city.

"You get the high winds, dry temperatures, the fuel load on the forest floors," Zimmerman told the Georgia Straight . "A lot of people are in the misconception that it's a wall of fire that comes in. It's not. It's the high winds that get you, because they're blowing embers all over the place. So could it happen again? You bet it could happen again."

The 100-page Filmon report listed several recommendations on how to manage the threat of fires, particularly in interface areas, where forest meets human settlements. These included the reduction of fuel materials that feed fires set either by lightning or human action. It also called for a review of land-use plans as human development continues to push into the forest.

Professional forester Dwight Yochim noted that the risk of another major fire has been heightened by bark-beetle infestations.

"There are almost 10 million hectares of bark beetle–infested forest in Interior B.C.," Yochim, former director of professional practice and forest stewardship with the Association of BC Forest Professionals, told the Straight . "Once the trees have been dead for 10 to 25 years, that's the highest risk for extremely hot and wild fires. Some of the stands are approaching five years."

He pointed out that the provincial government is implementing the Filmon review recommendations, except that "the question is how much".

Yochim noted that the government identified 1.7 million hectares that pose medium to high fire-hazard risks in communities. Of these, he said, 7,000 hectares were managed last year; for 2007, another 7,000 hectares will be addressed.

In an interview with the Straight , Ken Wu, campaign director of the Victoria chapter of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, said that not enough prescribed burning had been done.

"The basic idea is that when there's less chance of fire getting away, you burn the forest so the fuel load is decreased," Wu said. "The prescribed burns have been limited so far."

NDP forest-and-range critic Bob Simpson told the Straight that out of the more than 360 B.C. communities at risk, only 80 have plans in place.

"We haven't even got to the planning phase in a majority of the communities, let alone actually doing some of the work needed," Simpson said. "They've added some additional water-bomber capacity, but they have not done very much at all of the work around fuel management, interface fire protection, the preventative work around communities."

The Cariboo North MLA also noted that in areas like Invermere, Vernon, Penticton, and even Kelowna, houses are still being put up near the woods. "Filmon said we have to change our practice of building subdivisions in the interface with the forest," he said. "We haven't stopped doing that."

B.C. Forest Service spokesperson Radha Fisher told the Straight that there has been "significant progress" in threat management since the Filmon report came out in 2004.

"We're continuing to implement all the recommendations of the Filmon review," Fisher said. "Forty-eight-million dollars was committed to the Ministry of Forests and Range to implement those recommendations by 2007 and 2008."

From April 1 to July 5, the province has seen 375 fires, 326 of which were caused by humans, according to Fisher.