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As the warm weather quickly returns, the Government of B.C. is making the final preparations for the 2019 wildfire season.
In the wake of two of the worst wildfire seasons on record, the provincial government has more fire prevention strategies, programs and funding to keep B.C. communities safe this summer.
"We've taken a hard look at additional steps we can take to not only prevent wildfires, but also enhance our response on the ground during wildfire season," said Doug Donaldson, minister of forests.
"Our base budget for wildfire spending has increased by 58%, and we're accelerating prevention and prevention awareness programs."
That 58% increase raises the wildfire management budget to $101-million annually, allowing the BC Wildfire Service to add to its fire response.
That means more crews, enhancing aerial capacity, implementing innovative technology and spending more on fire prevention activities.
An initial $10-million has been put aside to back a more comprehensive prescribed burning program.
There are a number of other changes being made to the province’s wildfire response strategy, many of which support recommendations of the independent Abbott-Chapman report.
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