Skip to content

Film on growing wildfire threat to screen in Salmon Arm

A free screening of Era of Megafires will be held at the Salmar Classic Theatre
20482442_web1_copy_Wildfire-prescribed-burns-PDN-190814
Firefighter Andrew Pettit walks among the flames during a control burn on June 11, 2019 in Cedar Grove at Kings Canyon National Park, California. (Brian Melley/The Associated Press)

An informative film focusing on the present and growing threat of wildfires will be screened in Salmon Arm.

Era of Megafires will be shown at the Salmar Classic Theatre on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 1 p.m.

The film centres around the work of research ecologist Dr. Paul Hessburg on the increasing size and severity of wildfires in Western North America. Hessburg raises the possibility that if some forest management practices are not changed, fires will destroy beloved forests to the point that they will take generations to recover. Hessburg and the filmmakers he worked with on Era of Megafires promise to explain how large wildfires became so common and what can be done about it.

Read More: Every game counts for Salmon Arm Silverbacks in close Interior Division

Read More: Group rekindles search for man last seen in Sicamous

Read More: 11 more arrested as RCMP continue to enforce injunction against Wet’suwet’en pipeline opponents

Read More: Salmon Arm businesses invited to Paint the Town Red for hockey extravaganza

In promotional material for the film, Hessburg stresses the need for a cultural shift to being proactive rather than reactive to the danger of wildfires. He states that wildfires are not going anywhere but the landscape can be made more resilient in order to stop them from reaching the size of the enormous fires experienced in recent years.

The doors open at 1 p.m. for the free Feb. 16 screening of Era of Megafires, which is sponsored by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD). It will also feature a question and answer session with local FireSmart experts at 2:30 p.m. after the film. The FireSmart program provides information for homeowners to make their properties more resistant to damage from wildfires.



jim.elliot@saobserver.net

Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter



Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
Read more