Over 3,700 people are battling wildfire blazes across BC

Minister and Deputy Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Katrine Conroy and Rick Manwaring gave an update on the fire suppression efforts across BC.

According to Conroy, there are 3,725 people fighting wildfires in the province, with 207 aircraft supporting them.

Conroy also said firefighters are responding as quickly as possible to new blazes, using the White Rock wildfire as an example.

“Crews were on site in 30 minutes. A helicopter with a 1,000-litre capacity also responded. The intensity of the fire and its growth led fire crews to instead focus on the evacuation of people.”

She added that there were 1,472 wildfires in BC since April 1st, burning up over 656,000 hectares of land.

Manwaring said people should expect fire suppression efforts to continue until the first snowfall.

“Even though it will get cooler, it’s because it is so dry and winds continue to be challenging in these conditions with no precipitation. That tells us we are in for at least 3 weeks to a month, and probably up until late fall,” he added.

Emergency Management BC gave an update on Evacuation Alerts and Orders in the province:

• 55 Evacuation Orders are in place in BC.
• 105 Evacuation Alerts are in place.
• There are 28 local States of Emergency.
• There are also 10 Band Council Resolutions.

In the north, there are:

• 61 wildfires in the Prince George Fire Centre, three are of note.
• 31 wildfires in the Cariboo Fire Centre, four are of note.
• Five wildfires in the Northwest Fire Centre, the Chief Louie Lake blaze is of note.