Wildfires in B.C

Wildfires can be a good thing… and a bad thing. In Canada, two-thirds of all forest fires are caused by people, while lightning causes the remaining third. Most forest fires are stopped before they reach maximum potential. However when they do they can exceed 100, 000 h of area. In a typical year there are over 9,000 forest fires. However this year that number has increased to 3064. That is a lot of fire. But in a way we should be thankful for the NATURAL occurrence of forest fires (such as ones caused by lightning) because they do well for us too. They get rid of the dead wood in the forests, and they also help keep the spread of the pine beetle at bay.