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<v Speaker 1>A provincial state of emergency has been declared in British

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<v Speaker 1>Columbia as a series of wildfires rage across western Canada,

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<v Speaker 1>forcing thousands of people from their homes. The province's premier

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<v Speaker 1>described it as a fast moving and threatening situation that

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<v Speaker 1>seen homes and other buildings destroyed. The summer Land region

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<v Speaker 1>is among the worst affected, with a fast moving fire

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<v Speaker 1>there doubling in size since first breaking out on Friday,

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<v Speaker 1>Officials the blaze remained out of control. Several Canadian provinces

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<v Speaker 1>have battled blazes this year, fueled by hot, dry weather

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<v Speaker 1>in densely forested areas. Ravi Palmer, British Columbia's Minister of Forests,

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<v Speaker 1>outlined the scale of the.

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<v Speaker 2>Fires without a doubt, we are facing some very significant

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<v Speaker 2>challenges here in British Columbia. We have over one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>after fires, and yesterday evening we had a new fire start,

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<v Speaker 2>as you noted, just outside of Summerland, British Columbia, or

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<v Speaker 2>fifteen kilometers away from the town. And what we saw

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<v Speaker 2>was something that we've never seen in British Columbia, and

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<v Speaker 2>that is the intensity of this fire. When I was

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<v Speaker 2>briefed by my officials they described it as a bomb

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<v Speaker 2>going off, and what we saw was a fire that

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<v Speaker 2>we tried to attack initially grow from fifty hectors to

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<v Speaker 2>about one thousand hectares in just under an hour. Challenging

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<v Speaker 2>circumstances indeed, and other.

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<v Speaker 1>Particular communities that you're concerned for.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, the southern half of the province is extremely dry.

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<v Speaker 2>There are very hot conditions right now, and without a doubt,

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<v Speaker 2>with all of those combined with the impacts of climate

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<v Speaker 2>change as well as wind gusts and potentially even dry

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<v Speaker 2>lightning in the forecast, it makes it very challenging, in

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<v Speaker 2>particular in our wildland urban interface areas, which is what

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<v Speaker 2>we saw yesterday where we saw a fire began in

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<v Speaker 2>the forest and quickly impact community. That led to an

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<v Speaker 2>evacuation of over fifteen thousand residents of summer Land, British

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<v Speaker 2>Columbia and the surrounding region.

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<v Speaker 1>And there's a state of emergency in place. Now, what

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<v Speaker 1>does that unlock in terms of resources, That's a great.

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<v Speaker 2>Question, provincials. Dative Emergency provides the Government of British Columbia

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<v Speaker 2>with extraordinary powers to be able to put travel restrictions

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<v Speaker 2>in place into areas like summerline British Columbia, the ability

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<v Speaker 2>to be able to procure more resources in the form

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<v Speaker 2>of property to be able to fight fires, and also

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<v Speaker 2>placement of evacuees, given that we have now about twenty

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<v Speaker 2>thousand British Columbians that have been placed outside of their

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<v Speaker 2>communities because of the impacts of fires. Again, it is

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<v Speaker 2>extraordinary powers for an extraordinary challenging situation here in British Columbia.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're the in charge of the forest. What have

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<v Speaker 1>you been doing to prepare for these kind of risks

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<v Speaker 1>and to try and mitigate the future risks?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it's a challenging situation here in British Columbia. I

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<v Speaker 2>am immensely proud of our BC Wildfare Service. We are

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<v Speaker 2>a world class organization. Over the course of the last

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<v Speaker 2>number of years, we have grown this organization, doubled its

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<v Speaker 2>size and naturally taken it from a seasonal based organization

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<v Speaker 2>into a full year round operation. We know, given the

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<v Speaker 2>challenges of climate change, we're needing to adapt. Every single

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<v Speaker 2>year we're doing more welfare mitigation work, cultural burns, prescribe burns,

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<v Speaker 2>and a whole host of other measures to able to

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<v Speaker 2>deal with the challenges In many cases, Lauren, most of

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<v Speaker 2>the fires that occur here in British Columbia are maintained

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<v Speaker 2>within ten hectors. But what we saw with this fire

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<v Speaker 2>in particular was something we've never seen before, and it's

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<v Speaker 2>a new dilemma that we're dealing with here in British Columbia,

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<v Speaker 2>and I know my colleagues are dealing with down south

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<v Speaker 2>in the United States as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Can you tell us what the causes normally are for fires.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, in Europe we've seen people arrested and the

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<v Speaker 1>suggestion that people have been setting the fires is that

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<v Speaker 1>the case in Canada, or they're generally accidental.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, this fire is still under investigation, but what we

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<v Speaker 2>typically experience in the case of British Columbia most fire

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<v Speaker 2>seasons is well over majority of our fires are occurred

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<v Speaker 2>by dry lightning strikes in many parts of the province,

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<v Speaker 2>and then we do have a proportion that are human caused.

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<v Speaker 2>But I think it's really important to note that human caused.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not just someone flicking a cigarette, but could be

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<v Speaker 2>someone driving an ATV in the back roads of British

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<v Speaker 2>Columbia or a whole host of other things. It's a

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<v Speaker 2>very wide ranging category. But answer your question, the majority

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<v Speaker 2>of fires that occur in British Columbia are actually occurring

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<v Speaker 2>by lightning strikes.

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<v Speaker 1>So why the fire is spreading so rapidly. Mathur Bobone

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<v Speaker 1>is co director of the Center for Wildfire co Existence

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<v Speaker 1>at the University of British Columbia.

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<v Speaker 3>There's a combination of things that allow a fire to

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<v Speaker 3>grow the way that we've been seeing in the last

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<v Speaker 3>few days. Part of it is really just very dry

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<v Speaker 3>and abundant fuels and so that's dead to breed on

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<v Speaker 3>the forest floor, and plants and trees live plants and

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<v Speaker 3>trees very hot, dry conditions with low humidity and strong winds.

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<v Speaker 3>And then in some cases, you know, there's terrain that

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<v Speaker 3>can kind of amplify fire spread when it starts, and

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<v Speaker 3>so what happens is it allows these fires to really

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<v Speaker 3>quickly transition from a surface fire to a crown fire

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<v Speaker 3>where it's actually moving through you know, the crowns of

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<v Speaker 3>the trees. In an extreme cases like we in summerline,

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<v Speaker 3>these these fires can actually start generating their own weather

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<v Speaker 3>where they're generating winds and in cases you know, throwing

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<v Speaker 3>embers and debris kilometers ahead of the actual flames, which

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<v Speaker 3>allows these fires to spread really quickly and aggressively, and

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<v Speaker 3>at that and at that point, you know, it's very

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<v Speaker 3>likely that they're going to exceed the ability of fire

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<v Speaker 3>suppression organizations to actually contain them.