The province is giving a $5-million-dollar endowment to Thompson Rivers University to help further research on wildfires.

That money will pay for a new research chair, and a person will be appointed to that job in the fall.

TRU president Brett Fairbairn says the research chair will help support land management decisions and strategies, and better forecasting of wildfires.

“The research is going to look beyond the fires themselves, and will include the social impacts of fires on those who experience those impacts. Because of today’s announcement, TRU and Kamloops are going to continue to lead in world-class wildfire research,” Fairbairn says.

“This research chair is going to help chart a new course for wildfire protection and response in British Columbia, and I’m sure with lessons for places around the world. The knowledge gained from this research is going to help protect residents, infrastructure and economies threatened by forest fires throughout our province.”

TRU is partnering with UBCO in Kelowna and UNBC in Prince George on the wildfire research. Those three schools committed $120,000 in early 2019 towards this research.

One of the 108 recommendations in the Abbott-Chapman report, after the devastating 2017 fire season, was to invest in research into wildfires.