BC Closes In On Worst Fire Season

It’s just a matter of time before this becomes BC’s worst fire season on record.

Kevin Skrepnek from the BC Wildfire Service says 845-thousand hectares has burned since April — trailing the all time high set in 1958 of 855-thousand hectares.

“Given where we’re at in the season, that number is certainly going to increase, so safe to say, we are on track for this to be the worst fire season on record in terms of area burned,” Skrepnek told the daily fire update with BC media.

Three-hundred-and nine (309) million dollars has been spent fighting fires this season —which is still trailing 2009 when the cost was 382 million.

Three-hundred and ten (310) structures have been lost to the fires this season. including 71 houses, most of those in the Cariboo and Thompson Nicola regional districts.

“There is also 118 outbuildings, three commercial buildings, just recently a bridge in the Kluskus area, and 117 other structures, so not residences but some other form of structures not determined at this point,” says Chris Duffy from Emergency Management BC.

Duffy says 9,273 residents are on evacuation order, with another 30,762 on evacuation alert.

He says the TNRD has lifted the alert for residents of Monte Lake.

There are 154 fires burning today, including 8 new fires.

Skrepnek says the the Elephant Hill Fire, which is about 50 to 60 km’s west of Kamloops, has showed no real growth since Monday, and is at 168,000 hectares.

The Hanceville-Riske Creek fire south west of Williams Lake is BC’s largest at 212,000 hectares.

There has been 1,017 fires this season.

Photo courtesy of BC Wildfire Service