How to create wildfire-resilient communities

• 1 year ago
• Radio
• Duration 9:26

This week, several communities in the Northwest Territories — including the entire city of Yellowknife — were told to evacuate. Meanwhile in B.C., officials in Kelowna issued evacuation orders after a wildfire jumped Lake Okanagan. And many Canadian evacuees were thinking this week of Hawaii, where a wildfire last week caused catastrophic damage, particularly in the town of Lahaina. Places that used to generally be considered safe from wildfire could now be more at risk than we once thought. And in the event that fire does strike, many communities might find themselves underprepared. Eric Kennedy is associate professor of disaster and emergency management at York University. He says that until we rethink our response to wildfire, communities — and lives — will continue to be devastated by these disasters.