B.C.’s Forests Minister says there will be a substantial review of the response to the 2023 wildfire season.

Bruce Ralston was asked about Barriere Mayor, Ward Stamer’s call for a third-party review of the record breaking fire season.

“This is the first year that we’ve had a much broader full-time wildfire service and that will be evaluated,” Ralston said Wednesday. “I know [Emergency Management] Minister [Bowinn] Ma and her ministry will also want to evaluate the mechanisms that evacuation alerts and orders just to make sure that we can do things better.”

Stamer told Radio NL he wants that third-party review to look into the good, the bad, and the ugly of this year’s fire season.

“I think without pointing any fingers, I think we really want to get to the bottom of what is going on and hopefully we can come up with some better ideas and some better opportunities going forward to get a handle on some of these fires,” Stamer told Radio NL.

At this time is not clear when this review will take place. Stamer wants it to begin immediately and be completed by the 2024 fire season.

“In terms of a third-party being engaged to that, that decision hasn’t been taken but I appreciate the suggestion coming forward from the mayor,” Ralston said.