Prepare Your Community Organization for Wildfire Season

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On April 24, 2025 The Federation hosted the webinar “How to prepare your community organization for wildfire season 2025 in BC”. We were so pleased to welcome Arden Henley from the Green Technology Education Centre (GTEC) and Federation member Katie Hodder, Executive Director of the Golden Family Center to answer questions from the webinar participants.

Interviews with the expert panel can be viewed on The Federation’s Vimeo page. The experts interviewed for the 2025 edition of this panel include:

  • Bob Gray – Fire Behaviour
    Robert is an internationally recognized expert in fire ecology and management with a career spanning over 40 years in Canada, the US and overseas. With a focus on the nexus of landscape fire risk, mitigation strategies, and long-term resilience of society and the environment, Robert works collaboratively to solve the pressing fire problems affecting British Columbians.
  • Alexis Palmer-Fluevog – Psychological Impacts
    Currently the Executive Director of the Mental Health Climate Change Alliance, Alexis brings expertise across multiple fields, including climate and health, public health, global health, social determinants of health, harm reduction, and pandemic preparedness and mitigation. Her work at the present focuses on the mental health impacts of climate change and climate change events.
  • Linda Thyer – Health Issues
    GTEC Advisor, Linda Thyer practises family and sports medicine on traditional Coast Salish territories with a focus on youth. She is a founding member of Doctors for Planetary Health – West Coast and is an active member of various medical, environmental and community organizations. She is grateful for the many nourishing and healing gifts of Mother Earth and works toward restoring health and peace for all.
  • Katie Hodder – First Hand Experience
    Katie Hodder is the Executive Director of the Golden Family Center, a member of The Federation located in BC’s interior region. During the 2024 wildfire season the town of Golden was under several evacuation alerts, escalated to evacuation orders for some parts of the town and surrounding area. Katie and her staff team were faced with the operational challenges of continuing to provide services for their clients while also making tough decisions as the needs of the community grew throughout this emergency situation. We are pleased to welcome Katie to this panel as she reflects on her first-hand experience of a wildfire event and shares practical learnings for other social services organizations.

Additional Resources

GTEC has prepared a checklist and planning guide for community organizations to prepare for wildfire and smoke events in 2025. We encourage you to keep a copy of this tool handy throughout wildfire season.

You can also watch the 2024 webinar for additional insights on the impact of wildfire and smoke events on community health and a practical look at DIY air filtration.

In support of the social service sector, we have also compiled links below to other resources mentioned in both webinar videos for your reference.

Connect with the Green Technology Education Centre (GTEC)

Connect with the Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance (MHCCA)

  • Email team@mhcca.ca
  • Access resources including therapists and counsellors, support groups and communities, and self-help guides and toolkits.

Get the Alertable App to monitor emergency response updates and air quality

Apple App Store | Google Play Store | Alertable website

Do-It-Yourself Air Cleaner Solutions

These community tools are developed and distributed by Dr. Anne-Marie Nicol (Simon Fraser University – Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society).