B.C. firefighters told investigators they feared deaths were ‘inevitable’ during 2023 wildfire season

Wildland firefighters battling the worst fire season in British Columbia’s history told internal investigators they’ve become so overwhelmed in recent years they worry fireline deaths are becoming “inevitable,” documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show. Three documents, called Facilitated Learning Analyses (FLAs), examined the 2023 entrapment of five Brazilian firefighters as well as the deaths that year of two young firefighters during B.C.’s fire season, which burned 28,000 square kilometres, forced 48,000 people to evacuate, and killed six firefighters. Most of the contents of the FLAs are previously unreported.