Only four fires have started in BC in the last 24 hours, while 20 have been declared out in the same time. Currently, 353 fires are burning across the province.
That is according to the BC Wildfire Service (BCWFS) and Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, who held a provincial news conference this afternoon (Wednesday).
While conditions have been tame, Ma said “we are still in the core wildfire season and must remain vigilant and alert.”
“While we have seen progress on several fronts, much of the province remains extremely dry,” she said. “This is particularly true in the north where hot weather and a lack of rain is increasing wildfire activity once more.”
“In general I would say we are in a much different place than we were last season going into the fall,” Forrest Tower, the BCWFS’ Manager of Communications and Engagement added. “We have a lot of fire on the landscape, however a lot of those fires are a lot smaller than they were last year.”
While only 18 properties are on evacuation order across the province right now, Ma said nearly 1,600 properties are currently under evacuation alert.
BC has just passed one million hectares burned this season, which makes it the province’s fourth-worst fire season on record by hectares burned (behind 2023 – 2,840,104 hectares, 2018 – 1,354,284 hectares, and 2017 – 1,216,053 hectares).
Nathan Cullen, the Minister of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship, added over a quarter of the province is also at a drought level 4/5.
You can report a wildfire by calling *5555 or through the BC Wildfire Service app.
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