Comments | British Columbia, July 1 to September 30, 2014. A significant heat wave across British Columbia in July and August led to record breaking dry conditions and “high” to “extreme” fire danger ratings in most of the province. Almost 360,000 hectares of land was burned –the third highest in the history of the province. Over 4,500 people were forced to evacuate throughout the season with the largest evacuations taking place in West Kelowna where 2,500 people fled and Hudson’s Hope where 1,150 people fled in July due to wildfires. At its peak, over 3000 firefighters and frontline crews worked at combating the fires, and as a result, significant damage to infrastructure and communities was avoided. As of November 2014, the Government of British Columbia estimated it spent approximately $300 million dollars responding to wildfires for the 2014 season. |