The BC Wildfire Service has now banned campfires in all jurisdictions amid recent wildfire surges throughout the province.
On Monday, July 10th, a state of emergency was declared for the Stikine region which includes all of northern BC where the wildfires have been most severe.
Throughout BC, there are 322 active wildfires in the province and there are 24 evacuation orders impacting around 785 people.
Over the weekend, BC was hit with dry lightning in several regions which ignited 115 fires alone.
“Keeping people safe is our number 1 priority,” said Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. “The state of emergency applies only to the Stikine region, but we are continuously assessing the situation across the province.”
“While the Wildfire Act already enables all the legislative tools required for us to access resources for fighting wildfires, we continue to closely monitor wildfire and drought conditions and impacts across BC to determine if other measures might be required. We will continue to take actions to keep people and communities safe.”
BC is coordinating several out-of-province resources through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
Firefighters from Mexico and the United States have been deployed to the Prince George Fire Centre and BC has contracted additional aviation resources over the past week.
As the drought conditions worsen in BC, water conservation efforts have already begun in other regions and may soon impact Vancouver Island’s communities.
The province is asking people to make every effort to conserve water and pay attention to local governments’ water conservation regulations.
People near active wildfires are being encouraged to make their home ‘Firesmart’ and prepare grab-and-go bags, just in case.
As of this publication, all wildfires on Vancouver Island are either ‘being held’ or ‘under control’.
