By Steve Hubrecht
Invermere now has an official community wildfire resiliency plan, and it formally outlines what many local residents already know: that Invermere faces considerable wildfire risk.
Many communities in B.C. have created wildfire plans in recent years, as the threat — and prevalence of wildfires — has grown. Almost every summer in Invermere over the past half decade has brought weeks on end of smoke-filled skies. The summer and fall of 2023 set records as the worst wildfire season in Canada, and the very next year was not much better, with summer and fall 2024 the fourth-worst wildfire season on record in Canada.
A large wildfire raged for weeks on Mount Bruce in 2023, 10 kilometres west of Invermere. In 2024 an unstoppable wildfire tore through Jasper townsite in Jasper National Park, forcing an emergency evacuation of that mountain community, and leaving many of their homes completely destroyed.
Although Jasper is more than 350 kilometres from Invermere, there are plenty of similarities between the communities, and the Jasper wildfire left many Invermere residents openly wondering if what happened there could easily happen here.
Those who wondered will not find the new Invermere community wildfire resiliency plan a reassuring read. The plan, written by local Ktunaxa Nation-owned land resources company Nupqu, bluntly lays out that Invermere faces increasing wildfire risk, thanks to the Columbia Valley’s climate and natural terrain, as well as ever-growing development in the interface between Invermere’s urban area and its wildland surroundings.
“The area’s hot, dry summers, combined with its flammable vegetation, create ideal conditions for wildfire events. Proximity to Lake Windermere and other natural water bodies provides local barriers but does little to eliminate risks, as windblown embers could rapidly spread fire across and along the valley,” reads the plan. “The region’s increasing residential development and recreational use further exacerbate wildfire risks. Climate change and a successful wildfire suppression history has intensified this threat, increasing the frequency and severity of heatwaves that routinely lower the moisture levels in vegetation. Steep slopes surrounding the community can funnel fires, while the wildland-urban interface—where forests meet residential areas—exposes all homes and infrastructure in Invermere to the threat of wildfire.”
Indeed the plan labels the environment around Invermere as “picturesque but fireprone” and notes that when it comes to wildfire Invermere is ‘Risk Class 1’, the highest level of wildfire vulnerability in B.C.
The plan listed actions the District of Invermere has taken to help mitigate the risk of wildfires, including thinning vegetation and brush within the district and on nearby public lands, and promoting FireSmart principles within town.
But one of the biggest risks, Invermere councillors pointed out recently, is that Invermere is surrounded by large tracts of forested and grassy private property, and the district has no say in what kind of measures are taken on these lands to reduce fire risks.
“It’s a big piece,” said Invermere councillor Gerry Taft. “We must figure out some kind of option for private land . . . that’s our biggest risk right now . . . we’ve done a lot of great things in town and on Crown land around Invermere. But a lightning strike, a wildfire, it doesn’t know about — or care about — land ownership.”
Councillor Kayja Becker said, “You can do all the FireSmart-ing you want in town, but if you have large private land all around (Invermere) and they (the owners) are not taking steps to reduce wildfire risk, it’s a problem.”
Local residents in the past have expressed concerns about the Grizzly Ridge Properties, which are heavily and densely forested and lie to the west and south of the Castle Rock subdivision. But councillors noted there are other large tracts of public land that also need to be addressed.
Fort Point resident Joan Rouse asked if the district has a bylaw prohibiting local landowners from letting grass grow too long on their properties. She noted there are several vacant lots in town, including one right downtown, where the grass is never mowed, creating a fire risk she termed “frightening.”
Invermere mayor Al Miller replied there is a bylaw for unsightly properties, which theoretically includes long grass and overgrown brush, but there is no bylaw dealing with long grass or untamed brush specifically because it poses a fire risk.
