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 2,200 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.

“Wildfire prevention is about more than stopping new fires – it’s about working together with our partners and communities to reduce wildfire risk,” Parmar said. “The BC Wildfire Service has already had a busy start to 2025, supporting our neighbours in California as they dealt with devastating wildfires. This was an invaluable opportunity to collaborate on our shared work and prepare for our own wildfire season in B.C.”

A dedicated training and recruitment model for First Nations communities is expanding this spring, with sessions that build local capacity, strengthen relationships between the local First Nation and fire centre, improve wildfire response, and address needs heard from communities. First Nations bootcamps will begin in April 2025 in several fire centres, along with new-recruit bootcamps at the Merritt training facility. Upon completion, successful candidates will be offered positions on crews around the province.

​Learn More:

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

A backgrounder follows.