How Wildwood Resources Ltd. equips workers, fire departments, and interface communities for today’s fast‑moving wildfire reality
The Okanagan has become one of the province’s most volatile fire corridors, a reality Jake Jacobson knows well from Salmon Arm. The region has endured repeated severe wildfire seasons, with fast‑moving interface fires threatening Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country, Vernon, Summerland, and the surrounding hills. These events have reinforced how essential trained personnel, structure protection units, and disciplined initial attack really are.
Hotter, wind‑driven fires in the Okanagan now behave more like the extreme burns Jacobson describes — fires that destroy seed banks, overwhelm old prediction models, and push directly into neighbourhoods. For communities across the Interior, the lessons are clear: preparation, training, and FireSmart practices are no longer optional.
Wildfires in British Columbia are burning hotter, faster, and closer to communities than ever before. Structure Protection Units, FireSmart practices, and proper S100/S100A training have become essential tools for public safety. Wildwood Resources Ltd. provides the practical wildfire training that industry, contractors, and fire departments rely on to stay safe in the field and respond effectively when conditions turn critical.
Structure Protection and Modern Wildfire Realities in B.C.
British Columbia’s wildfire landscape has changed so dramatically in the past two decades that entire pillars of fire protection have had to evolve. One of the most important additions has been the deployment of Structure Protection Units (SPUs) — specialized trailer‑mounted systems designed to defend homes, commercial buildings, and critical infrastructure when wildland fires push into populated areas.
“Structure Protection trailer units have been put in service by the Columbia Shuswap Regional District and other jurisdictions,” says Jacobson. "They’re used to protect homes, commercial buildings and all structures threatened by wildland fires.”
These units, operated by trained personnel, are now stationed across the province and can be dispatched rapidly when communities come under threat. Their value is obvious to anyone who has watched a fire move through interface terrain — they buy time, create defensible space, and allow ground crews to work safely.
Jacobson has spent nearly four decades in fire prevention, training, and wildland operations, including service as a Fire Warden for the Ministry of Forests. He has watched the fire environment shift under the pressure of climate change. “In 38 years, I can see a difference in fire behaviour as climate change is definitely altering the environment. Today we have to throw out all the old models on fire prediction and behaviour.”
One example sits outside his own window: a 1998 Salmon Arm wildfire that burned two mountainsides. “Some grass and shrubs have returned but in 25 years it’s not coming back to the same condition it normally would.” Hotter fires destroy seed banks, scorch soil, and halt natural regeneration — a pattern now seen across the Interior.
Training for a new era
Wildwood Resources Ltd. has become a key training hub as the province adapts to longer, hotter, more unpredictable fire seasons. The company offers the mandatory S100 Basic Fire Suppression and Safety course and the S100A Annual Refresher, now available online for $20 to anyone holding a current S100 ticket. “Go to www.s100a.com or phone 1‑250‑832‑2300,” Jacobson notes.
The student base has changed dramatically. Where BC Wildfire Service once hired local Emergency Fire Fighters (EFFs), the province now relies on government crews, contractors, and industry. “Tree planters, loggers, road builders, silviculture workers and blasters all take the course. Now urban and rural fire departments are also taking wildland fire fighting training because bushfires are encroaching on towns and cities.”
The S100 remains the minimum standard for anyone working in the bush. The two‑day course covers fire behaviour, weather, safe suppression methods, pump operations, hose deployment, fire‑guard construction, and entrapment avoidance. The companion S185 course focuses specifically on strategies to prevent firefighters from being trapped by fast‑moving fire.
Jacobson stresses that safety is the first, second, and third priority. “What they shouldn’t do comes first. I preach Safety, Safety and Safety.” Wildland crews spend significant time learning how to read a fire — understanding what it wants to do, where it wants to go, and when it becomes too dangerous to engage.
Initial attack: speed and discipline
Most wildfires begin in the afternoon, and BC crews often work through the night to contain them before 10 a.m. the next morning, when heat and wind intensify. “Often it only takes a few hours to contain or extinguish a small fire. We had over 1,600 fires last summer and only thirty or so became real problems.”
Initial Attack (IA) crews — typically three firefighters with a truck, pump, hose, and hand tools — are the backbone of early suppression. If a fire exceeds their capacity, they call for air tankers, heavy equipment, or additional crews. Coordination is everything. “A water drop from an air tanker may not do any good if there are no crews to go in after to extinguish the fire once it has been slowed down.”
A province on the edge
The Interior’s fire season now stretches from late March into November. Communities like Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, Salmon Arm, and the Fraser Canyon have all faced severe events. The disappearance of Lytton in 2021 remains the starkest reminder of how quickly a town can be erased.
With more people living in forested interface zones, homeowner responsibility has become critical. Jacobson points to the FireSmart program: clearing access routes, using metal siding, creating defensible space, and ensuring firefighters can safely enter and exit a property. “When roads and access routes are cleared… the firefighters have more confidence about going in to fight the fire.”
Where Wildwood Resources fits today
As B.C. faces hotter fires, longer seasons, and more interface risk, Wildwood Resources Ltd. provides the training that keeps workers, contractors, and community responders safe. Their S100A online refresher, S185 entrapment avoidance course, and WHMIS for forest workers give industry and fire departments the tools needed to operate in a landscape where every summer tests the limits of prediction and response.
CoPilot edits on a McColl Magazine article Aug 2026
CIOO Civilian Training for Wildfire
