In an effort to support the thousands of personnel battling wildfires across BC, a provincial state of emergency has been declared.
This will allow the sharing of resources to be co-ordinated on a federal, provincial, and local level, depending on where they’re needed during firefighting efforts.
“We currently have 566 fires burning in British Columbia,” says Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety. “At this time, given the outlook over the next ten days in terms of weather conditions and the ability to ensure that we’re doing everything possible, and that resources are being allocated as efficiently as possible, we have declared the provincial state of emergency.”
As of August 14th, there have been 53 evacuation alerts affecting 23,550 people, and 29 evacuation orders affecting 3,060 people across BC.
"Public safety is always our first priority and, as wildfire activity is expected to increase, this is a progressive step in our wildfire response to make sure British Columbia has access to any and all resources necessary," says Farnworth. "Taking this step will further ensure we can protect the public, property and infrastructure, and assist with firefighting efforts."
At this time, firefighters from all over Canada, as well as Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand, are helping out with the wildfires. In the coming days, more personnel and resources will be coming to BC after the federal government accepted the province’s recent request for help.
The state of emergency will be in effect for a minimum of 14 days, and could be extended depending on future conditions. Looking ahead, the forecast calls for hot, dry conditions with a risk of thunderstorms in many areas of the province.
Last year's fire season saw a state of emergency that lasted 10 weeks, from July 7th to September 15th. Before that, the last provincial state of emergency due to wildfires was issued in August of 2003.