Ulkatcho First Nation – 2025 Wildfire Season External After Action Review
Press Release
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Cariboo Regional District held a 2025 Wildfire After Action Review with emergency management partners on December 4, 2025, at the Williams Lake Curling Centre. The session brought together local, regional, provincial, and Indigenous partners, including Williams Lake First Nation (T’exelcemc), Xeni Gwet’in First Nation, Ulkatcho First Nation, Nazko First Nation, and the Tŝilhqot’in National Government, alongside representatives from BC Wildfire Service, the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Ministry of Forests, Emergency Support Services, BC Emergency Health Services, the RCMP, School District No. 27 and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association. The gathering focused on shared reflection, relationship-building, and identifying practical improvements to strengthen wildfire response across the region. The 2025 fire season confirmed that CRD and partners are operating from a position of strength, maturity, and shared accountability.
Three defining characteristics shaped the season:
1. Nation-to-Nation and Government-to-Government cooperation
Joint alerts, orders, and re-entry were both tactical decisions and governance decisions rooted in relationship and legal authority.
2. Fire behaviour and operational tempo demanded new norms
Accelerated fuel drying, post-rain fire growth, and high-hazard September operations reinforced that the “traditional” season is no longer a reliable predictor. Fire season is now six months, not four.
3. The system doesn’t need overhaul; it just requires further precision
Interpersonal strengths based on high trust, skill, and experience across most partners. Improvements are all possible, such as onboarding clarity, document discipline, egress processes, and Highway 20 protocols.
During 2025, the Cariboo region faced:
Late-season surges: After relative calm mid-summer, late August and early September saw renewed fire activity, particularly in southern and central interior areas, putting pressure on evacuation logistics, re-entry planning, and ESS resourcing.
Intersections with critical social systems: The surge coincided with school reopenings, ranching activities, outfitter activity, and Highway 20 pressures related to heavy use of this critical corridor for essential and recreational activities.
Impacts on traditional lands and seasonal users: Title lands, harvesting sites, trapper cabins, guide/outfitter leases, and cultural use areas added layers of governance complexity, along with increased risk for users outside resident populations.
Communications and trust pressure: Uncertainty (especially around road closures, re-entry, and resource access) threatened public trust and created challenges for responders.
This “intersection overload” made 2025 a stress test of governance and relationships. Overall, fire suppression efforts were largely successful, with no homes or lives lost during the 2025 fire season. The priority moving forward is to refine what is already working well and stay curious about how things can be improved, particularly around coordination and communications.
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