The number of applications received by the BC Wildfire Service has doubled from last year.

In a statement to CityNews, the service says it received more than 1,700 applicants during its extended recruitment period, which ran from October 2023 to March 2024.

Each year, the service employs around 1,600 wildfire fighters. Successful applicants are required to show motivation, relevant skills and sufficient fitness. They must also attend the service’s New Recruit Boot Camp, which takes place over six to eight days in Merritt and Prince George during the spring.

Following a successful pilot in the Cariboo Fire Centre, the service says its First Nations boot camp will also be offered at its Coastal Fire Centre this spring.

This initiative, plus the extended recruitment period, are measures that were put in place to encourage more applicants from remote and rural communities across the province, the service adds.

Currently, the wildfire service is forecasting an active spring wildfire season as soon as fuels and forests are snow-free.

Recent snowfall is anticipated to be largely ineffective at dampening the upcoming fire season and windy conditions can cause fuels uncovered by snow melt to dry out even faster.

As of Feb. 1, the province’s snowpack is averaging 61 per cent of its normal level — meaning its extremely low.

If continuous rain comes to B.C.’s interior during May and June, it could influence the severity and duration of the summer’s wildfire activity. However, the service says it remains too early to tell what the weather will bring and meteorologists remain skeptical sufficient precipitation will occur.

Firefighters say more than two million hectares of land were scorched in B.C. last year, as the province’s marked its worst wildfire season in recorded history.