Four Southern Interior community foundations unite to support wildfire research at UBC Okanagan
The Okanagan Wildfire Coexistence Fund will expand UBC Okanagan wildfire research program and opens the door to even greater innovation.
Wildfires have become an all-too-familiar threat for communities across B.C.’s Southern Interior. From issues of smoke and sudden evacuations to the loss of homes, businesses and cherished natural spaces, the impacts are deeply felt by citizens across the province.
Motivated by their shared vision for safer, more fire-resilient communities, four community foundations from some of B.C.’s most fire-prone regions have come together to support wildfire solutions for the communities they serve.
The Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen, Community Foundation North Okanagan, Central Okanagan Foundation and Shuswap Community Foundation have made a collective gift of $65,000 to FORWARD, the campaign for UBC. Their contribution is helping to launch the Okanagan Wildfire Coexistence Fund at UBC Okanagan, supporting researchers at the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science as they develop new tools and technologies to improve wildfire monitoring and response. This work includes the development of a provincewide remote wildfire camera and wildfire weather sensor network.
“Wildfire is affecting every community in the Interior,” says Leanne Hammond, Executive Director of the Community Foundation North Okanagan. “We’re fortunate to have an innovative wildfire research program right here where we live, and we’re excited to help get these early detection technologies into communities.”
Led by wildfire scientist Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais, the UBC Okanagan research team is partnering with B.C. Wildfire Service to install the new monitoring systems across the Interior. The remote cameras will stream visual data from high-risk areas, enabling responders to spot and respond to fires more quickly. Meanwhile, custom-built weather sensors will track heat, wind and humidity, key factors that influence fire behaviour and risk.
Together, these tools will give communities and emergency teams better data to guide both immediate response and long-term fire management strategies, including prescribed burns.
“We were impressed by the practical, community-focused nature of the wildfire research at UBCO,” says Kristine Bugayong, Chief Executive Officer of the Central Okanagan Foundation. “It’s not just about studying wildfire, it’s about equipping communities with tools they can use to stay safe.”
What also stood out to the foundations was the collaborative and interdisciplinary nature of the work. UBC Okanagan’s approach brings together a range of disciplines and partners to create solutions that are both innovative and designed to help the communities most affected.
The Okanagan Wildfire Coexistence Fund will expand UBC Okanagan wildfire research program and opens the door to even greater innovation.
“This generous gift is helping us build a foundation for long-term impact—not just in research, but in how we work collaboratively with communities to respond to the realities of wildfire,” says Dean of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, Dr. Lael Parrott.
“Wildfire affects all of us, and it’s through partnerships like this that we can make meaningful progress toward building community resilience. We are extremely grateful for this support.”
The foundations hope their gift will inspire others to join them in supporting wildfire solutions.
“By partnering with our community foundation colleagues in the Central and North Okanagan and Shuswap on this investment, we want to collectively bring greater awareness to our new reality of living with wildfire,” says Aaron McRann, Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation South Okanagan Similkameen. “We all believe that by working together, we can have a greater positive impact on the issue.”
Christine Jontz-Barbour, Grants Committee Chair of Shuswap Community Foundation, echoes this sentiment.
“After the 2023 fires, our community showed incredible generosity in the rebuilding efforts in the North Shuswap. We hope the collective impact of the foundations involved with this gift will be to inspire further donations, but toward research that will help prevent future devastating wildfires in the wildland-urban interface.”
As B.C. continues to face the challenges of wildfire, this gift marks a shared commitment to finding the collaborative, innovative solutions that will keep people, homes and communities safe.
Individuals and organizations interested in advancing wildfire resilience can also build on this impact by giving to the Okanagan Wildfire Coexistence Fund.
This story has been published in local media:
https://give.ubc.ca/news/community-foundations-unite-support-wildfire-research-ubco/
