VANCOUVER - Too many wildland firefighters "hang up their boots" in British Columbia as wages and working conditions erode, but losing that experience could also mean billions in losses, a wildland firefighter says.

Sebastian Kallos has been working with BC Wildfire Service for about 15 years and said Tuesday that if mistakes are made in the backcountry, a wildfire might go from one hectare to two or five, but only brush and trees are lost.

"But if you make a mistake adjacent to a community, the cost could be billions of dollars in lost value, like communities being wiped off the face of the Earth."

Kallos, who is also the vice-president of the B.C. General Employees' Union, has been fighting for better wages and working conditions for his fellow firefighters.

He is among 25,000 public

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