What emerges from the ashes after a wildfire? (Pt 3)

The summer of 2026 has been defined by the smoke — and the horror — of wildfires around the world. But what comes after one of these fires? "That isn't the end of the story. That's the beginning of a whole different kind of story," says Nlaka'pamux ecologist Jennifer Grenz. That's why we have decided to follow the long-term story of one 21st century megafire: the 2021 McKay Creek wildfire in interior B.C. Producer Pauline Holdsworth returned in September 2025 — four years after the fire — to find new life emerging from the ashes, and new questions about the road ahead.

This is the latest instalment in our ongoing series Healing the Land. Listen to other episodes:

How brutal wildfires are 'killing' Indigenous ways of life (Pt 1)

Guests in this episode:

Chief Justin Kane is the elected Chief of Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation.

Michelle Edwards is the Tmicw Coordinator for the St'át'imc Chiefs Council and the former Chief of the communities of Sekw'el'was and Qu'iqten.

Dr. Jennifer Grenz is an Indigenous scholar and assistant professor in the department of forest resources management at UBC, and the principal investigator at the Indigenous Ecology Lab. She is a member of Lytton First Nation, where she sits on the lands committee. She is also the author of Medicine Wheel for the Planet: A Journey toward Personal and Ecological Healing and the forthcoming book Burned: Truth and Hope in the Fires.

Virginia Oeggerli is a PhD student in the Indigenous Ecology Lab in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC.

Dr. Sue Senger is a biologist working with the Lillooet Tribal Council.

Gerald Michel is a council member and the lands resource liaison for Xwísten First Nation.