Dylan Bullock, a former firefighter with the BC Wildfire Service, has heard about close calls. Like the time a colleague lost sight of the vehicle ahead and ended up in the path of a forest fire. They had to abandon their truck after it got stuck on a tree stump and escape on foot. Another time Dylan was hospitalised after his clothes caught fire during a controlled burn, caused by improperly mixed fuel.

Talk to people like Dylan, and they'll tell you fire seasons are getting hotter, harder, and more dangerous. They’ll share stories of exhaustion and near-misses. But, for some experienced workers, the mounting fatigue and risks are forcing them to quit.

In Joan Webber’s documentary The Burn, former wildfire fighters in B.C. speak about how that burnout is making conditions more perilous.

Produced by Joan Webber with help from Julia Pagel, this documentary originally aired on The Current. 

Storylines is part of the CBC Audio Doc Unit