Annika Segelhorst and Elmira Aliakbari: Governments chronically underuse one of the most effective tools for reducing the severity of wildfires — in a word, fire. Controlled burns can mitigate the risk of future more intense fires by clearing flammable material
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It’s peak wildfire season, and fires are burning in many parts of the province. In light of recent severe wildfire damage, governments in B.C. and across the country need a smarter plan to address the risks of wildfires. According to a national database of area burned, 2023 and 2025 rank among the largest wildfire seasons in Canada since the early 1970s.
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Yet governments chronically underuse one of the most effective tools for reducing the severity of wildfires — in a word, fire.
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Wildfire severity partially depends on the amount of accumulated natural fuels (dead and dried trees, shrubs, grasses) in an area. “Prescribed fires” or “controlled burns” can mitigate the risk of more intense future fires by clearing this flammable material.
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As wildfire expert Amy Cardinal Christianson explains, carefully planned prescribed burns replicate “lightning fires and the positive benefits they brought to the landscape and communities.”
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A recent study published by the American Geophysical Union found that prescribed burns dampen the severity of future wildfires by 16 per cent and reduce air pollution from smoke by 14 per cent.
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We shouldn’t be surprised. Fire is a natural and essential element of forests and grasslands. In many ecosystems, plants and animals rely on periodic fires for healthy reproduction. Wildfires can clear away dead vegetation, recycle nutrients into the soil, and spur new cycles of plant growth.
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But when fire suppression from people interrupts these natural cycles, flammable vegetation accumulates, increasing the risk that future fires will burn larger and hotter. Prescribed burning can help restore some of these natural processes and reduce the buildup of vegetation that contributes to fire spread.
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Throughout recorded history, societies used controlled burns to manage their forests. Indigenous groups conducted planned burns for centuries in prairie and open forest areas to encourage plant regeneration, improve hunting grounds, and support cultural practices. They performed these burns in the early spring and late fall when the risk of unintended fire spread is lower. Early settler societies also used fire to thin and clear forests to make way for habitation and agriculture.
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But as communities expanded toward fire-prone lands and as forests became more economically valuable, authorities shifted focus toward preventing and suppressing fires.
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Over time, preventing and extinguishing fires became the central emphasis of Canadian fire management. Improvements in fire surveillance and firefighting technology made this approach more feasible and successful. Since 1990 (the first year of available data), the area treated with prescribed burning in Canada fell from more than 350 square kilometres hectares to just 1.8 square kilometres in 2023 — a 99.5 per cent decline.
