Kamloops councillor calls for better wildfire planning after 2021 fires

A city councillor in Kamloops, British Columbia, is calling for better wildfire planning, nearly five years after a fire broke out in her city on July 1, 2021. Dale Bass was dealing with the death of her son when the Juniper Ridge fire started. The fire came just days after the nearby town of Lytton was almost completely destroyed by flames.

Both fires were part of a severe heat wave across western North America that broke temperature records and caused many people to lose their homes or their lives. Bass, who worked as a journalist before joining the city council in 2018, says Kamloops needs stronger plans to protect residents if similar wildfires happen again. She believes they will.