Wildfires come part and parcel with Okanagan summers and the valley is one of the biggest wildland-urban interface regions in all of British Columbia.
That’s one of the main reasons the largest wildfire conference in Canada is taking place in Kelowna this week.
Wildland Fire Canada 2016 is underway from Monday to Thursday, with more than 350 attendees from across Canada, the United States, Australia, Mexico and other countries.
Everyone from wildfire professionals, researchers, masters students and even corporate staff are here to take part.
“It’s bringing all these aspects of fire management together so everyone can learn from each others experience and knowledge,” said
BC Wildfire Service research coordinator Daniel Perrakis, who is one of the conference organizers.
While members of the public can pay for tickets to the different lectures and discussions, there are also free lectures going on from Tuesday to Thursday at the Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Regional Library.
One of those lectures is being presented by UBC forestry associate professor Lori Daniels, who will talk about how homeowners can protect themselves and their property from wildfire.
“We’re crossing the boundaries from being a smart idea to be fire smart to becoming an urgent situation. We’ve seen that in communities like Slave Lake, Fort McMurray and saw it in Kelowna in 2003,” Daniels said.
“Now is the time to get proactively get engaged and take care of our homes and communities.”
A myriad of topics will be covered over the four day conference. For a full schedule, click here.
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