The 2023 wildfire season has been the most destructive in BC’s history.
More than 2.84 million hectares of forest and land was burned and tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate.
Hundreds of homes and structures were lost or damaged.
From April 1st to October 31st last year, there were 247 wildfires in the Cariboo Fire Centre burning 53,648 hectares.
Province wide in 2023, 60 wildfires were classified as wildfires of note, 5 of which were in the Cariboo Fire Centre that burned 15,424 hectares.
Of the 2,245 wildfires 72 percent were natural caused and 25 percent human, the remaining 3 percent, are undetermined.
The number of lightning strikes during last years wildfire season was slightly above the 20-year average, with 265,321 strikes recorded.
Wildfires this season in the Province resulted in an estimated 208 evacuation orders which affected approximately 24,000 properties and roughly 48,000 people.
And an estimated 386 evacuation alerts which affected approximately 62,000 properties and roughly 137,000 people.
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