B.C. Wildfire Service sees record number of applications for 2025 season: province

Wildfire season is around the corner in B.C., and the province says a record number of people have applied to be wildland firefighters.

The British Columbia Wildfire Service has recorded its highest-ever number of applicants ahead of the 2025 season while expanding First Nations recruitment.

A statement from the Forests Ministry says the service has received more than 1,700 applications since October, the highest number ever received.

Nearly 580 of those came in January, the highest number in a single month.

There are about 200 openings for new crew members each year, with about 1,300 wildland firefighters in total working across several different types of crews.

The ministry says a dedicated training and recruitment model for First Nations is also expanding this spring, with sessions that build local capacity and strengthen relationships between communities and their local wildfire centres.

It says boot camps for First Nations recruits will start in April in several fire centres, along with camps for new recruits at the service’s training facility in Merritt.

The province has expanded the operations of the wildfire service in recent years, adding permanent, year-round staff to combat increasingly severe fires.

The 2023 season eclipsed previous years' records as wildfires scorched more than 28,000 square kilometres of land in the province, and a further 10,800 square kilometres burned last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 20, 2025.

The Canadian Press