r/BCWildfire

I'm worried about my home burning down in a wildfire in the not too distant future. I'd like to hear from people who have lost their home during a fire and were forced to rebuild their homes. What was this process like? How well did your insurance company treat you? How long were you out of your home for? Was your new home as good as your old home once it was finished?

My home is right in the middle of the forest here in BC and every year I get more and more nervous about my home being taken by a wildfire. I purchased my home just over four years ago and it's been a top to bottom renovation and I'm currently doing everything I can to firesmart my house and surrounding property. However given my house and land it's been an incredible amount of work (new roof, new siding, brush clearing, tree cutting/pruning) etc. and has frankly been a multi year process and will likely take another year before I'm completely happy with things.

My home is in the forest on a mountainside and we have had multiple forest fires nearby over the past five years. I feel like it's not if, it's when my home will face a serious fire.

My question is, how hard should I fight to save my home? Should I spend $3k or more on a rooftop sprinkler system? Should I cut trees down that are close to my house? Do I bust my butt clearing my land and doing everything I can to save my home or is it all wasted effort?

What are people's perspectives on this?

From Sask. Looking to volunteer / work for the ongoing wildfire crisis in BC.

If there is any company that is looking for people, please let me know.

Might need a ride to BC. Can drive once in BC.

Edit: not looking to take anybody's job. Looking to assist locals temporarily and return from BC. I'm sure there are people needed to rebuild the communities.

Hi all, my partner and I will be driving along Hwy 3 for a trip next week (if its open) and given current fires theres a chance we may come across some fire crews on the road.

Given that, we'd like to bring some snacks for the crews. So a couple of questions:

1. Are crews able to accept food and drinks from passing people, and

2. What snacks would be preferable? I'm thinking of stocking a cooler full of freezies and Bublé water or the like, maybe picking up an extra tote or 2 of freshwater to leave with the crews.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: We'll be donating to the links provided, thanks to everyone who replied!

https://preview.redd.it/w0hbn6e3q8ih1.png?width=1078&format=png&auto=webp&s=6590ed68ef846c5fc2034b7cfeb5fa94cd2af5a2

This is from regional district emergency website but I cannot find any confirmations in the news or elsewhere.... Is this true?

EDIT: It looks like someone made a mistake because now the website shows yellow. So just Alert not an Order.

https://preview.redd.it/1on5erkzr8ih1.png?width=616&format=png&auto=webp&s=d7df6703b088da9d1ace73abe0a71df2c4993b9e

I have been wanting to join BCWS for many years and have built a strong resume with EMR, OFA3, trades experience, extensive backcountry experience, etc. My only problem now is that I am only 18 and have quite overprotective parents. Going away for two nights for a backpacking trip is a big deal currently so there is no way I can be gone for a whole fire season. Is there any way to do wildfire while being away from home for at most 1-2 weeks at a time? I'm not against contract work as long as I still get some deployments. Has anyone here done something similar, or are there any contractors in the Lower Mainland or Sea-to-Sky that would make this possible? For reference I live in Vancouver.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for the advice. Probably gonna join anyways my parents are gonna hate me but they can't kick me out if I'm already leaving I guess.

I'm driving from Vancouver to Revelstoke this Saturday and was wondering what the smoke conditions are currently like along the Trans-Canada Highway and the Coquihalla.

I've seen reports of some significant wildfires near Vernon, and it also looked pretty smoky around Merritt. Has anyone driven this route recently or lives in the area? How are the conditions now, and is it still safe to make the drive?

Any recent updates or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!