The provincial state of emergency due to a record-breaking wildfire season comes to an end Friday at midnight.
The state of emergency was declared on July 7 and extended four times over the nine weeks that followed. During this wildfire season, approximately 65,000 people evacuated from their homes.
Given the weather forecast and efforts of the BC Wildfire Service to contain and extinguish fires, the province said in a statement its now is in a position to allow the state of emergency to expire and return to a standard emergency response.
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This means the Canadian Forces will be demobilizing members who’ve been working with the provincial wildfire service.
But the wildfire season is not over yet.
As of this morning, 153 wildfires are burning in B.C., with 11 evacuation orders affecting about 3,000 individuals. Approximately 23 evacuation alerts are also still impacting more than 5,000 people.
Resources – including the bi-weekly stipend from the Canadian Red Cross – will continue for those still displaced, confirmed Robert Turner with Emergency Management BC.
Province to review record-breaking season
Forest Minister Doug Donaldson said the province will be undergoing a full review of how the wildfires were handled this summer.
This will include looking at how fuel was treated in the fire zones and other recommendations for next year.
@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca
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