The District of Fort St. James will stay in a local State of Emergency for at least another week due to risk from the Shovel Lake wildfire. The Shovel Lake fire is currently estimated at 85,744 hectares.
Extending the Declaration of State of Local Emergency allows the District to maintain use of the power and resources needed to prepare, plan, and protect its residents.
“As long as the Declaration of State of Local Emergency is in effect, residents who are agreeable to remain self-evacuated and have personal arrangements are encouraged not to return to Fort St. James,” said Mayor MacDougall in a statement.
“The evacuation alert is still in place, the Shovel Lake Fire remains volatile and the potential for a future evacuation continues to exist.”
The Fort St. James Emergency Operations Centre will continue its work and will remain open until further determination as the situation continues. Starting Monday, August 20, the EOC will look to provide daily morning communication.
Barring another extension, the Declaration of State of Local emergency will remain intact until midnight on Sunday, August 26.