A look back on the 2022 B.C. wildfire season — and what it can teach us about what's coming next

A significant drought lengthened the 2022 B.C. wildfire season well into October, and one fire researcher says lengthy fire seasons could become the norm as firefighters gear up for 2023.

Even though the 2022 wildfire season was not nearly as destructive as past seasons, Robert Gray, a wildland fire ecologist, says the overall increases in the length and intensity of our fire seasons show the need for better emergency preparations.

After a slow start to the season, with cool and wet weather in the spring, fire activity spiked heading into August and September. 

As British Columbians geared up for Halloween on Oct. 19, much of the province remained blanketed by smoke advisories and fires burned within Metro Vancouver.

Evacuation orders were issued across the province — in the northeast B.C. community of Hudson's Hope, in the still-rebuilding community of Lytton in the southwest and near Keremeos, B.C. in the southeast.

The main reason for the heightened activity in the middle of the fall was a historic drought that left reservoirs at near-record-low levels.

Gray said he was very concerned about the impact of the long fire season on firefighting crews heading into 2023.

"What we're seeing in years like 2017, 2018, 2021, and even the latter part of 2022, is a very, very long deployment," he told CBC News. "It takes a really significant physical and emotional toll on firefighters.

"They have a shorter recovery time over the winter before they're right back at fire season in the springtime."

Taylor MacDonald, a fire information officer with the B.C. Wildfire Service, said in a statement that the service was actively recruiting ahead of next year's season.

"New records [were] set in late August and mid-October for the maximum number of fires detected per week, compared to the past 20 years," she said.

"Many areas of the province set temperature records and accumulated rainfall amounts through September that were below normal levels."

While the fire season was historic in its length, it was a significantly quieter season compared to the devastation of 2021.

 MacDonald. said 2022 ranked as below-average when it comes to area burned, number of fires set and the number of human-caused fires.

"The 2022 fire season was characterized by above average lightning-caused fires and below average human-caused fires, resulting in the province experiencing one of the lowest human-caused wildfire seasons since 1950."

However, the number of fires across B.C. was more than in the historic 2017 season. 

Crucially, however, many of these fires were smaller — only around 11 per cent burned more than 0.05 square kilometres, according to MacDonald.

2023 could be worse

Gray said that modelling shows climate change is lengthening the fire season.

"What happened this year is, likely, an early warning of what's likely going to happen more frequently in the future. We need to be prepared for more frequent, long fire seasons, more heat domes, more situations like that."

In addition, Gray said modelling suggested next year would be an El Nino year.

An El Nino is part of Earth's natural process, characterized by a warming in the Pacific Ocean with repercussions across the globe, including higher temperatures and greater precipitation in various regions. 

Gray said El Nino years have translated to more aggressive fire behaviour in B.C.

He said the province should shore up its resources and have more firefighters on staff year-round and also provide more targeted public safety advice for members of the public, including how to prevent fires and how to evacuate safely.

"It means everybody being a little bit more conscious of what's happening out there in the environment and being ready for it early."