Victoria – The Province is ramping up wildfire preparedness for 2025 by welcoming back experienced wildland firefighters and training a new wave of recruits, following a record number of applicants.
Since October 2024, the BC Wildfire Service received more than 1,700 applications, the highest recorded number of applications ever received. This includes 578 in January alone, the largest number ever received in a single month.
“The heart of our wildfire efforts is hands down the brave members of the BC Wildfire Service,” said Ravi Parmar, Minister of Forests. “I’m proud of everyone who put their name forward to join our team and grateful to all the wildland firefighters who continue to keep us safe year after year.”
Touring the Thompson Okanagan this week, Parmar met with BC Wildfire Service staff at the Merritt Fire Zone training facility.
B.C. continues work to keep communities safe by focusing on all four pillars of emergency management: prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. As part of these efforts, a series of enhancements were made in 2024 to strengthen pathways for participation in wildfire response, specifically for applicants in rural and remote communities.
To learn more about working for the BC Wildfire Service, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/WildfireFighters
To learn more about the First Nations bootcamp, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu6awAFy6mI
To learn more about New Recruit Bootcamp visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsva0qmNUzQ
