# Claim table — B.C. wildfire trends and real-dollar budget

- **B.C. has had a clear increase in number of fires over the last decade.** — Not exactly: BCWS annual fire counts are volatile. The 2015–2024 average is 1,531 fires/year, while 2008–2014 averaged about 1,772 fires/year in the official table.
- **B.C. wildfire severity/area burned has increased.** — Supported: BCWS data show recent record/severe area-burned years: 2023, 2018, 2017, 2024, 2025 and 2021 are all near the top of the 2008–2025 table.
- **Peer-reviewed research supports a shift toward more severe B.C. wildfire years.** — Supported: Parisien et al. 2023 in Communications Earth & Environment reports that after a century-long decline, B.C. fire activity increased from 2005 onward, with climate-induced moisture deficits and fuel/land-use factors.
- **The direct fire/wildfire management budget went down after inflation.** — Not supported by the comparable Estimates line: The Direct Fire / Fire Management estimate rose from about $63.2M in 2014/15 to $232.7M in 2024/25. In 2024 dollars, that is roughly $82.4M to $232.7M, an increase of about 182%.
- **Higher real spending proves B.C. is spending enough on forest-risk reduction.** — Not proven: The comparable fire-management line rose, but adequacy is a different question because drought, WUI exposure, fuel loads, staffing, prevention, FireSmart and suppression-cost overruns are separate issues.
- **The user-supplied Okanagan table is a complete official wildfire inventory.** — Not supported: The image describes a selected significant-fire summary, not a complete BCWS inventory, and OCR shows errors and provisional 2026 entries.