BC United has pledged to create a “world-class” wildfire prevention and response institute in Kamloops if it forms government following the October election. At a news conference Tuesday morning, Todd Stone, BC United MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, said the institute would have an initial funding amount of $78 million. Stone said the focus of the proposed institute would be to bring together the BC Wildfire Service, Thompson Rivers University and other post secondary institutions, local communities and First Nations to implement new technologies. “There’s different aspects of research being done by institutions around the province, but the private sector is the piece that’s largely missing from being at the table at the moment,” Stone said. “The institute that we’re announcing here would be largely focused on ensuring that there’s a very strong private component to the acceleration, of the adoption of new technologies, new approaches to wildfire fighting.”