B.C. wildfire season faces new challenge in COVID-19 pandemic
May 6, 2020
Wildfires have become a fact of life for many residents of B.C. and Alberta in particular. While the 2019 season was quieter than usual, Western Canada was particularly hard-hit by fires in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, 2,117 fires consumed 1,354,284 hectares of land and forced 66 different evacuations in B.C.
UBC Forestry Professor and Wall Solutions award recipient Lori Daniels spoke about mapping out what the wildfire season will look like as B.C. continues to battle COVID-19. She said wildfires won’t directly make more people get infected with COVID-19 but can increase the number of people who experience severe symptoms.
Daniel’s Wall Solutions award is being used to identify the barriers to community participation in wildfire prevention and to co-develop potential solutions to increase participation in preventative wildfire management throughout B.C.
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