Cooperative Community Wildfire Response: Pathways to First Nations’ leadership and partnership in British Columbia, Canada

With the growing scale of wildfires, many First Nations are demanding a stronger role in wildfire response. Disproportionate impacts on Indigenous communities (including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) in Canada are motivating these demands: although approximately 5% of the population identifies as Indigenous, about 42% of wildfire evacuation events occur communities that are more than half Indigenous. In what is now known as British Columbia, Canada, new pathways for cooperative wildfire response between First Nations and provincial agencies are emerging. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with 15 experts from First Nations communities and agencies, and a review of 42 documents on wildfire response, our research highlights the diverse existing capacities, priority opportunities, and processes required to enhance cooperative pathways. Within First Nations communities, existing capacities include local knowledge, firefighting experience, equipment, funding, relationships, and leadership – an overlooked but fundamental capacity. Priority opportunities include ways to build capacity within and beyond wildfire response, such as fully equipped response crews, full-time year-round wildfire management crews, Emergency Management Coordinators, First Nations Liaisons, and cross-trained wildland and structural crews. Translating existing capacities into priority opportunities requires an ongoing focus on cooperative processes, including relationship-building, respecting Rights and Title, streamlining funding, and enabling “cultural safety” to overcome racism. These cooperative pathways can help transform fire management toward First Nations-led partnerships.