1 year later: Lessons from the tragic West Kelowna wildfires in 2023

A year ago, the Central Okanagan experienced an unprecedented time as the Grouse Complex wildfires grew, forcing people to evacuate, businesses to close and buildings to be destroyed.

It was an incredibly difficult time and the effects are still being felt, but according to West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund, a lot was learned from the experience.

“It was a very different year,” said Brolund. “We certainly made a tremendous effort to prepare for a wildfire in terms of our training, our equipment and our people, but what I sometimes did not expect was the consequences of the wildfire and what [this] year after that.”

And for Brolund, there have been countless opportunities to talk to people across the country about the wildfires and his experiences and those of the fire department.

“There have been so many opportunities to talk about what happened to us and share our story and our lessons,” said Brolund, who added he gets several requests each week. “I'm very passionate about trying to share our lessons with people who can benefit from them. I've spoken to fire chiefs across the province and across the country.”

“There are a lot of things I wish someone had shared with me, and I have the opportunity to do that now,” he added. “These are all things we never could have done without the fire, and the fire was terrible, but we also found something positive in it.”

And it wasn't just about the country as a whole, as Brolund had the opportunity to speak at the United Nations about the 2023 wildfires as well as Hockey Night in Canada. He and the West Kelowna Fire Hall also had visitors including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and team president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford.

Throughout all of these visits and speaking engagements, Brolund continually spreads the message of FireSmart and the scientific work being done to explain what causes home losses from wildfires and to drive additional efforts on how to prevent it.

Even though the fires happened a year ago, Brolund still feels like it was yesterday. And he says that while a lot of good work has been done, there is still a long way to go.

“It's surreal to think that we're back here at the same time of year and it feels like there's a lot of work to do after this event, let alone if we experience another one,” Brolund said. “A lot of the things we've learned have led to actions we want to take or things we want to change, and one year isn't necessarily enough time to do that. Some of these changes we're making or projects we want to tackle are multi-year projects, so we'll be doing some things for years to come.”

Over the past year, Brolund has learned that relationships and communication are key factors when an event like Grouse Complex takes place because so many people have to come together and work together.

Sometimes having coffee with someone doesn't seem like the most efficient use of time, but it turns out it's exactly when you really need the person, Brolund says, adding, “Strengthening relationships has been hugely important.”

“We learned how important communication is,” said Brolund, who provided updates to the public via livestream almost every day during Grouse Complex. “We knew this was important before, but this event really underscored it,”

Despite the tragic events, the lessons learned are a key factor for future fires.

“If it happens again, we can build on all of these experiences,” Brolund said. “We'll go out and do the same things the next time there's a wildfire and learn the lessons from it. I can't predict what the outcome will be because it depends on factors we can't control, like the weather and the ever-changing climate. But we realize that this won't be the last major wildfire in our careers. We have to learn to live with it and that's a tough job, but we're going to work hard to make this more of an everyday occurrence.”

He has discussed all of these factors with mayors, premiers, fire chiefs, city administrators, task forces and more.

“They said in 2003 that it was a once-in-a-century fire and we would never see another one like it in our careers, but 20 years later, we did,” Brolund added. “Unfortunately, we will see another one like it, and not to prophesy doom for West Kelowna, it may not be here, but it will probably be somewhere nearby where we will all be called to help, just as all help came here.”

At every event or speech Brolund has given, he mentions FireSmart, a tool that anyone can access to learn about fire safety at home, during home construction, or in many other situations.

Although the last year has been a turbulent one for Brolund, he is grateful for so many people.

“We would not have had the success we had with the wildfires. It's hard to call it a success when so many people have lost their homes. We still think of those people, our sympathies go out to them. But we would not have had the result we did if it wasn't for all the hard work of not just the firefighters, not just the West Kelowna firefighters, but firefighters from across the province, wildfire response, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and everyone who came to help us.”

“When I look back on the past year, I am just so grateful.”