Province of BC provides an update on the Wildfire activity.

Although it may have gotten off to a later start than in years past, Wildfire season is certainly showing its full potential across BC.

Provincial Officials felt it was time to have their say today (August 8th), as they hosted a Provincial update amidst one of the busiest times of the year.

Taking part in the phone call this afternoon was Chief Fire Information Officer Kevin Skrepnek, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations, and Rural Development Doug Donaldson, and Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.

For simplicity reasons, we will go through the highlights of each speaker as they were listed above.

Skrepnik: “A number of these stats will change minute by minute, but I’ll give the readers an update as of noon on August 8th. There are currently 462 fires burning throughout BC with 2,800 staff currently tending to these blazes. We are seeing a bit of success in terms of the firefighting efforts, but with the sheer number of fires, we’re definitely a bit concerned. We had 44 new fires start yesterday (August 7th), most of which were lightning caused. Since April 1st, there have been a total of 1,502 fires that have burned an estimated 101,000 hectares of land. Our costs associated to this since April 1st are currently sitting at $131 million dollars.”

Skrepnik finished by saying as of now, his main concern is the weather for the coming days. Thursday is going to be the hottest day of the week. With that, he says Provincial Officials are anticipating some challenges, as the wind is supposed to gust for the next couple days. Skrepnik says he expects a drastic change in the weather pattern come Friday. There’s a ridge of high-pressure that should cool things down, however, with that comes strong winds and the potential for thunderstorms.

Donaldson: “First and foremost, I want to say thanks to all the men and women who are keeping us safe this Wildfire season. The BC Wildfire Service motto of hit it hard and hit it fast is certainly being displayed across the Province. We’ve had some really key success in getting to fires early and getting them under control. This year, the fire season started a little bit later but it’s definitely more widespread than last year. There are Wildfires of note burning within all of the 6 districts, which is pretty significant. One thing that has certainly impressed me is the overwhelming support of communities across BC. Everyone has been welcoming and willing to help out those in need and that’s great to see.”

Farnworth: “I would also like to echo what Minister Donaldson said about extending thanks to everyone helping out across the Province. Currently, there are 22 Evacuation Alerts and 17 Evacuation Orders issued throughout BC. The largest Evacuation Order comes from the Telegraph Creek Wildfire in Northwest BC, where 250 residents have been evacuated from their homes. Emergency BC has been working with people to make sure they have what they require during their time of need.”

At this time, there are roughly 100 Wildfires blazing through the Northwest Fire Centre and Prince George Fire Centre.

The Wildfires range in size and are more lightning-caused than human-caused.

To track Wildfire activity in the Province, click here.

To stay up to date on Evacuation Alerts and Orders within the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako, click here.