A new documentary series on the most destructive wildfire season in sa国际传媒 history premieres on the Knowledge Network on April 29.
More than 2.8 million hectares of forest was burned in 2023 with the affected areas including West sa国际传媒 and unincorporated areas along Westside Road.
鈥榃ildfire鈥 takes viewers behind the scenes of the containment efforts, providing an in-depth and educational exploration of the tactics used by firefighters.
鈥淔rom the initial attack crews to specialized air attack, par attack, and rapattack teams - as well as the last remaining all-Indigenous unit crew in the province - Wildfire follows British Columbiasa国际传媒 elite first responders of wildfires as they face the rising threat of todaysa国际传媒 modern mega-fires,鈥 per a release from the Knowledge Network.
The McDougall Creek fire started northwest of West sa国际传媒 on Aug. 15, 2023 and forced the evacuation of about 33,000 people. sa国际传媒 200 structures were damaged or destroyed.
Wildfire was created by Optic Nerve Films鈥 Kevin Eastwood and CK9 Studios鈥 Simon Shave and Clayton Mitchell, both former woodland firefighters. Although the BC Wildfire Service rarely grants filming access, an exception was made in this case given their firefighting experience.
鈥淲ildfire isn鈥檛 just about dramatic footage. We wanted to unlock the human stories of not only those affected, but those fighting the infernos who are so often personally impacted,鈥 Shave and Mitchell say.
As well as running on the Knowledge Network from April 29 to May 27, the show can be streamed for free on .
The Knowledge Network is funded by the provincial government and viewer contributions.