Source 1:
“On the Fireline: Inside Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season”
By Neetu Garcha Global News
Published September 30, 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4
The source’s content was brought to us by Global News current affairs program The New Reality, featured on YouTube. The New Reality is a made in Canada news show that features documentary and investigative reports. The reporter, Neetu Garcha and her crew were granted rare access to the British Columbia WildFire Service crew to shed some light on why this season’s wildfires have been so devastating. Some interesting factual information featured in the report is that British Columbia has had record breaking wildfire seasons before but this current wildfire season is the most destructive on record. With more than 2 million hectares burned so far and this report was done at the end of July 2023 while fires were still burning. The firefighters use a tactic called a surface burn that uses fire to fight fire by using small hand torches to burn natural fuels on the ground like dried grass. The theory is items like grass and wood that are already burned and black will not ignite again. Wildfire Ecologist Robert Gray was interviewed for the report and says, “acceleration of climate change is amplifying the length and severity of fire seasons’ ‘ and “climate change is resulting in more lighting, about a 12% increase’ ‘. Forest debris, hot and dry weather can all be contributing factors to wildfires. According to Gray and stats from Canada’s Federal government, “Lightning strikes caused nearly half of all Wildland fires in Canada and nearly 60% in British Columbia. More than 230,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes, Indigenous communities among the evacuated are often hit by wildfires severely. Amy Cardinal Christensen is a Native American research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service in Alberta Canada, she discussed a process called “Cultural Burnings’ ‘ where Native American tribes conduct planned burnings of the land to combat seasonal wildfires. “Cultural Burnings’ ‘, are ancient and passed down from generation to generation but because of many federal government rules about land ownership in Canadian territory Native Tribes are sometimes left out of the seasonal land burning.
I believe that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4 was a really good source for this topic. The reporter Neetu Garcha gained access to ride along and film the British Columbia WildFire Service crew while they were in the process of managing the wildfires that had hit British Columbia back in August and September 2023. Neetu Garcha’s credentials are of a veteran reporter who has reported on crime politics and global weather events affecting Vancouver British Columbia for many years. She also sits at the news desk for Global News when not doing investigative reporting. Her reporting style is honest and straight to the point, making sure she asks all the right questions and interviewing experts in the specific field. The purpose of reporting on the Canada wildfires is to inform the world on why this season’s fires were so devastating, how much devastation was recorded and what the government in British Columbia did to manage the wildfires. I believe Neetu Garcha’s reporting is credible because the British Columbia WildFire Service crew gave her access to film and report on what they were doing to manage the wildfires.
I believe Neetu Garcha’s chose this genre because it allowed her to film some of the destruction the fires caused in real time, it was fast pace in your face reporting getting the facts from the fire and climate experts, and gives the audience, who I believe would be people who are genuinely interested in knowing more about the Canadian Wildfires a much better understanding of what these wildfires really involve by using a strong visually component. Film/video is always a more impactful genre to use as a reporter. Having the documentary air on Youtube allowed it to reach a larger audience. Global News has almost 4 million Youtube subscribers and since the documentary aired on September 30th, 2023 almost 7,000 people have viewed it.
A really important statement I want to highlight was made by Aus Al Mubarak, a task force leader on the British Columbia WildFire Service crew. In the interview he said, “You’re pushing the limits of what humans can do in this job a lot of the time but they’re physically, emotionally or intellectually just the amount you have to manage at any given moment.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4. This tells me the firefighting crew responsible for fighting the wildfires are stretched thin and can experience physical, mental and emotional stress. Fighting wildfires is hard labor intensive work. Mubarak in a leadership role has to make sure his crew is safe and carry out the orders he is giving them in order to prevent the fires from spreading.
