Researchers want West Kelowna opinions on prescribed burns

A pair of researchers aim to find out how people in West Kelowna feel about smoke from prescribed burns and how they handle smoky days.

Sandani Siriwardhana and Dr. Tara McGee from the University of Alberta have an online survey and they’re asking people in Cranbrook and West Kelowna to fill it out to help improve communication on wildfire mitigation.

“No matter how well a plan is designed, it will not affect you without trust and meaningful engagement. So by hearing directly from local residents, we can improve communication, uncover concerns that might otherwise be missed by decision makers,” Siriwardhana said.

The research is funded by BC Wildfire Service, and the questions were drafted with input from the Regional District of Central Okanagan and West Kelowna’s fire chief Jason Brolund. 

Siriwardhana said the results are going to be shared with academic and non-academic organizations to inform how communities handle wildfire mitigation and the consequences of smoke.

Siriwardhana is an international master’s student from Sri Lanka and she said she’s impressed with how Canadians are adapting to combat wildfires.

“Wildfires happen frequently and it is part of nature, we humans have to find a way to deal with it. And I find Canada is making really good progress in coexisting with the wildfires,” she said.

The survey takes about 10 to 15 minutes to fill out and the deadline to complete it is July 31. So far most of the respondents are from Cranbrook so Siriwardhana hopes more folks from West Kelowna share their opinions.