BC Parks details wildfire response efforts within provincial campgrounds

As wildfires blaze on throughout the province, some residents with camping reservations at provincial parks might have to make other plans due to restrictions or evacuation orders.

While the decision to implement an evacuation order or alert is done so by the BC Wildfire Service and Emergency Program staff, BC Parks would work alongside the Park Operator to ensure the visitors are safely evacuated if necessary.

If an evacuation order is issued that directly affects an area where BC Parks has back-country camping, BC Parks staff and the BC Wildfire Service work together to identify backcountry areas where the public may be camping and check those areas to ensure that visitors are aware of the need to evacuate and the safe route to leave the park.

According to BC Parks, signs indicating evacuations/closures are posted within affected areas in parks to ensure the public is aware of the situation and the expectation of evacuation.

Meanwhile, any resident that has had a reservation impacted by an order or restriction will receive a notification from BC Parks and can expect a refund within 3-5 days.

Customers who have plans affected by non-park closures (i.e highway closures, air quality concerns) can cancel their booking(s) and submit a refund request form for any forfeited fees.

Non-park closures will require a manual review of each individual circumstance, and processing could take around 6-8 weeks.

Those looking to reschedule their trip at a different campground or park can do so online.

Updated information on the status of individual parks can be found on individual parks’ websites.

Currently, there are 293 active wildfires blazing throughout BC, 59 are in the Prince George Fire Centre, 46 are throughout the Cariboo Fire Centre and five are in the Northwest Fire Centre.

There are eight wildfires of note within the Prince George Fire Centre, nine within the Cariboo Fire Centre and one in the Northwest Fire Centre.

So far, there hasn’t been any reservation cancellations associated with parks within PG Fire Centre yet.