We need to coexist with wildfire… but what does it mean? It signifies something different to different people — to the Indigenous community evacuating three times in five years, the elderly couple with cardiopulmonary issues who struggle to breathe come August, or the small tourism operator watching as bookings drop year after year. …We have to invest in solutions that reduce risk and expense — solutions that contribute to economies and communities instead of draining them….The current thinking holds that total fire cost is six to 30 times the fire-suppression cost. But we don’t know for sure because B.C. doesn’t track it. …One solution to these mounting costs is Indigenous fire stewardship. After all, Indigenous peoples have coexisted with fire for millennia. They put fire on the land in spring and fall to create meadows, diversify species, and generate abundant harvests.